Who will captain every club in 2017 and who is next in line?
THERE have been some surprising captaincy calls already for 2017 — and there could be more to come. Who is next in line at your club?
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THERE have been some surprising captaincy calls already for 2017 — and there could be more to come.
At some clubs the vacancy sign is up, changes are expected at several others, and who saw the Swans’ decision to replace Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack with Josh Kennedy coming?
We take a closer look at the leadership stocks at every club.
ADELAIDE
Taylor Walker was an inspired choice of captain by Phil Walsh and at 26 he is set to lead the Crows for a long time. Walker was named the best captain in the comp by his peers at this year’s AFL Players Association Awards night. There will be at least one change to the leadership group after Nathan van Berlo’s retirement. The other members last season were Rory Sloane, Sam Jacobs, Richard Douglas, Daniel Talia and Scott Thompson.
BRISBANE LIONS
Will Tom Rockliff keep the job? The skipper for the past two seasons was told he has to earn the right to lead the team again in a blunt meeting with new coach Chris Fagan. “He knows the captaincy is up for grabs,” Fagan said last month. The decision will be made after a player vote in the lead-up to the 2017 pre-season competition. Rockliff’s leading challengers are vice-captains Dayne Zorko and Dayne Beams.
CARLTON
Brendon Bolton backed Marc Murphy to lead the Blues for a fourth season last year after saying he was “really open minded” about the position when he took over as coach. It’s hard to see that changing now, despite Murphy managing just 10 games in an injury-plagued season. Patrick Cripps is the logical successor but it just 21 and will miss much of the pre-season with a back injury. Maybe give him one more year.
COLLINGWOOD
Scott Pendlebury is one of the AFL’s best and most secure captains. He has held the job since 2014 and after winning his fifth Copeland Trophy has already set the bar high for 2017. Former Pie Mick McGuane called for Taylor Adams to replace Pendles earlier this year but didn’t get a lot of backers. Leadership group members Brent Macaffer (retired) and Nathan Brown (St Kilda) are gone, leaving Adams and Steele Sidebottom and the door open for some fresh blood.
ESSENDON
Jobe Watson led the Bombers from 2010-15 and the job is his to accept or reject after returning from suspension. Conventional wisdom says he’ll pass, and recent comments from coach John Worsfold that Watson is struggling for motivation after being stripped of his 2012 Brownlow Medal back up the theory. So who steps up? Brendon Goddard led the team in 2016 and the Bombers did well to win three matches. But he is 31 and if the team is looking to the future the obvious candidate is Dyson Heppell, who says he is ready to take the role at age 24. Zach Merrett has jumped into leadership calculations and expect to see some of the returning veterans helping 2016 vice-captain Mark Baguley shoulder the load.
FREMANTLE
David Mundy wants to keep the job after a tough first season as skipper. He was chosen over Nat Fyfe in a surprise player vote in January and expects another round of voting before next season. With free agent Fyfe coming out of contract, will the Dockers be tempted to offer the captaincy to the superstar onballer? Fyfe was a member of the 2016 leadership group along with retired legend Matthew Pavlich, Michael Johnson — in trouble with police over an off-season incident in a kebab shop — 34-year-old ruckman Aaron Sandilands and unheralded defender Lee Spurr. Lachie Neale surely gets a gig in 2017.
GEELONG
Joel Selwood has captained the Cats since 2012 and was named All-Australian captain in 2016, so he’s hard to overlook. Then again, there is a guy named Patrick Dangerfield in the team. Danger is two years younger than 28-year-old Selwood so could get the job at some stage but after those two it’s hard to see who will be the next Geelong skipper. Harry Taylor (30) was vice-captain in 2016 with Tom Hawkins, Mitch Duncan and Marc Blivacs also in the leadership group. Tomahawk is the same age as Selwood and the next generation could be led by Duncan, who finished a disappointing eighth in the best-and-fairest, and 24-year-old Cam Guthrie.
GOLD COAST
The Suns have already announced new co-captains in Tom Lynch and Steven May to replace Gary Ablett, who has stepped down after six years in charge. Former Sun Campbell Brown has backed May — the man he punched in the face outside a LA bar in 2013. “I think it’s fantastic,” Brown said of the co-captaincy arrangement. “The time is right to hand over the reins. The leadership those two have displayed on the field, but more importantly off it, has been fantastic. They have been the standouts at training and they demand professionalism. They are naturally the most physical guys out there and among the most vocal as well.”
GWS GIANTS
Callan Ward finished third in the AFLPA’s best captain vote and his co-captaincy with defender Phil Davis has served the Giants pretty well since 2012. Don’t be surprised if they jointly hold up a premiership cup in the very near future.
HAWTHORN
Al Clarkson’s mantra is ‘if it ain’t broke, fix it anyway’ — could that mean a change at the top on the field to lead the new-look Hawks in 2017? Luke Hodge is arguably the best leader in the comp but he’s 32 and entering what is likely to be his final season, so a decision will have to be made at some stage. Also in the leadership group last season were new Eagle Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis — now a Demon — Jarryd Roughead, on the comeback trail from cancer, and Josh Gibson, who at 32 seems an unlikely choice. That leaves Isaac Smith, who at 27 isn’t exactly a spring chicken. But he did win the Hawks’ best clubman award this year. Jaeger O’Meara, perhaps?
MELBOURNE
Nathan Jones played in finals in the seventh and eighth games of his AFL career. Will he lead the Dees out in a final a decade later? It’s hard to fault his work since taking over in 2015 and his heir apparent Jack Viney says his apprenticeship still has at least two years to run.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Andrew Swallow has relinquished the captaincy after five years in charge, with Jack Ziebell to lead the Roos into a new post-Boomer era. His vice-captain is Robbie Tarrant with Swallow, Shaun Higgins and Jamie Macmillan completing the leadership group.
PORT ADELAIDE
Travis Boak seems safe three years after replacing Dom Cassisi in the top job at Alberton. Robbie Gray is Port’s best player but surprisingly wasn’t in the leadership group in 2016. That group comprised vice-captain Hamish Hartlett plus Matthew Lobbe, Brad Ebert, Ollie Wines, Tom Jonas, Jack Hombsch, Justin Westhoff. Wines stands out as Boak’s future successor.
RICHMOND
The footy world will get a reminder on Tuesday of how good Trent Cotchin’s 2012 season was when he accepts his retrospective Brownlow Medal. He has never matched that form since — was taking on the captaincy the next year part of the problem? Cotchin has admitted he isn’t an extrovert in the mould of Taylor Walker, but he has strong support internally.
Jack Riewoldt’s name is thrown up regularly as a captaincy contender but he wasn’t part of the player-voted leadership group last season. One idea that makes sense is for Cotch to share the role with Alex Rance. Those two could be the only survivors of this year’s leadership group which also comprised Brett Deledio, Ivan Maric and Shane Edwards. Of the younger brigade Nick Vlastuin, who captained Vic Metro at under-18 level, has clear leadership potential. He led the Tigers in one pre-season game in February.
ST KILDA
Nick Riewoldt has stepped down after 10 years in the job, leaving a vacuum at Seaford. Jack Steven is coming off his third Trevor Barker Award and shone as stand-in skipper against Carlton this year, but he doesn’t like public speaking and could struggle in some of the extra responsibilities that come with doing the doing the job full-time. David Armitage is a reliable and polished performer on and off the field while defender Jarryn Geary has plenty of fans at the club, even if many fans would struggle to pick him in a police line-up. He’s loyal and hardworking and can play a bit, too, finishing second to Steven in this year’s B & F.
SYDNEY SWANS
The Swans made a surprising decision to name Josh Kennedy as stand-alone skipper for 2017 after four years under the Jarrad McVeigh-Kieren Jack partnership. Coach John Longmire said the seed was planted in the back of his mind when McVeigh mentioned the one-captain idea over breakfast. “The idea started to grow on me over the off-season and the players have been wonderful, in terms of being a part of all the discussions,” he said. Jack and McVeigh will remain in an eight-man leadership group alongside vice-captains Luke Parker, Dan Hannebery and Dane Rampe. Defenders Heath Grundy and Nick Smith have also been included.
WEST COAST
Shannon Hurn doesn’t get a lot of media attention but we haven’t heard any rumblings about his performance in the job since taking over at the start of 2015. Josh Kennedy, Luke Shuey and Matt Priddis are all well qualified members of the leadership group. Will 2008 premiership captain Sam Mitchell join them?
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Bob Murphy returns from knee surgery next year and will step back into the captaincy at age 34 — unless he decides to step aside in favour of close mate Easton Wood, who led the Dogs to the 2016 premiership.
Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas said recently that it was “illogical” for Murphy to remain skipper. “To have Bob Murphy take that position next year, who would think that would be logical? It goes to the point of future development, and benefit of the club overall,” Thomas said. “Bob Murphy is not going to be any different. He’s still going to do what he’s going to do. Easton Wood might come out of his shell even further — or whoever else they choose — and everyone’s a winner.”
Wood and Marcus Bontempelli were promoted to the leadership group in 2016, joining veterans Dale Morris and Matthew Boyd. Tom Liberatore and Jordan Roughead were left out after injury-marred 2015 seasons but have strong cases for a recall while Bont is a captain in the making.
Originally published as Who will captain every club in 2017 and who is next in line?
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