How will Jack Viney handle being replaced as Melbourne skipper by Max Gawn?
Jack Viney and Ollie Wines have a lot in common. They were childhood mates, dominated junior footy and are two of the hardest nuts in the game. They’ve also both been dumped as skippers before the age of 25.
Melbourne
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Jack Viney once joked of his childhood mate Ollie Wines that he was the biggest dummy-spitter he had witnessed if he lost something he cared about.
The best friends shared a childhood education in Echuca, reputations as two of footy’s rising stars, early captaincy of their clubs and now one of footy’s unenviable mantles.
They have both been demoted as the captains of their clubs by the age of 25.
How two of the most competitive animals in football deal with that setback might go a long way to defining the respective seasons of their underperforming clubs.
Wines has already said he is “100 per cent” committed to Port Adelaide despite at least informal inquiries on his behalf about whether he could get to Carlton last year.
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Essendon was definitely keen on securing him for 2020 and believed they might if Orazio Fantasia departed, although Wines only had eyes for Carlton.
Now it is Viney’s time to absorb the shock of losing the captaincy that coach Simon Goodwin said he was born for when he was elevated alongside Nathan Jones three years ago.
That vote was player-led but as Goodwin said in February 2017: “This needs to be made clear — Jack Viney was ready to captain this football club”.
How can he not take that as a blow to his confidence and esteem at the football club when the players disagree, or at least prefer Gawn?
When the Demons received the tally of the leadership votes they made it their priority to counsel Viney on that process and give him their support ahead of the official announcement.
Melbourne will spend the next 24-48 hours working through what Gawn’s clear player mandate to lead this club by himself means.
Like Wines, Viney could still retain the vice-captaincy or at least retain an official leadership title.
Now the Demons must prove they are empowering their players rather than following on from another in a long line of curious captaincy decisions.
Dean Bailey’s decision to delist the then current captain James McDonald in a team screaming out for leadership and guidance was premature and divisive.
Mark Neeld’s decision to strip Brad Green of the captaincy in 2012 and install Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove as co-captains was deeply unpopular.
Not only do some ex-Demons say it came without a leadership vote, both Grimes and Trengove struggled to maximise their potential.
As ex-coach Paul Roos said recently of that call: “Most people would acknowledge now that it was a poor decision to make (them) captains.”
Brent Moloney claimed last year the decision was made by the coaches and administration without any vote from players.
Nathan Jones was last year happy to hand over the captaincy but disgruntled about his contract for the back half of 2019, finally accepting a revised deal after months of haggling.
“F*** the narrative that’s out there that we don’t have leaders in this room because we f***in’ do,” Jones told the Demons players over summer.
Yet last year too few were able or keen to follow Gawn into battle in a five-win season where the leaders were injured or down on form.
Perplexingly, only Gawn and Clayton Oliver finished above Viney in the club’s best-and-fairest.
Jones showed on Saturday he was ready to embrace whatever role was given to him with a strong Marsh Series contest against Adelaide.
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So did Christian Petracca, transforming his body and finally getting himself fit enough to make the most of his potential in a three-goal, 38-possession masterclass.
Viney, who captained the side, has finally had an uninterrupted pre-season after foot issues and peeled off a 25-possession, nine-tackle display.
If he talks the talk like his mate Wines, then walks the walk with a return to form, the captaincy controversy is only as distracting as the Demons players make it.
‘HE WON’T CRACK THE SH**S’: HOW SETBACK COULD DEFINE VINEY
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Melbourne best-and-fairest winner David Schwarz says Jack Viney’s career could be defined by the way he bounces back from being demoted from the Demons captaincy.
Schwarz said that while Viney would be disappointed by the jarring news, he was the type of character to use it as motivation rather than a distraction to the playing group.
Viney has been in the role for three years and while he hasn’t received enough votes to keep the captaincy, it is understood he could still be a club vice-captain this year.
Schwarz said Viney’s style of captaincy might be less charismatic than the expected 2020 captain Max Gawn but he would show his character with his response this year.
“I don’t have a problem with it at all. He won’t crack the sh**s, he is a star. He will go to work and by all accounts he has had a good pre-season. It defines people when this happens,” he said.
“It’s a kick in the pants that maybe he needs or maybe he has already realised he needs. Look at Christian Petracca. He has clearly had a big pre-season and wants to show people what he can do and how hard I can work and I think Jack will do the same.
“Melbourne might be looking for someone who is a bit more flamboyant. I think Jack is a doer. He might not be as much of a sayer. He is, “Follow me, I will show you what to do”, a bit of a Robert Harvey style”, whereas Max has great communication, he is good on the yap and he’s more personable than Jack but it doesn’t mean he isn’t a great player and person, it just means his methods aren’t as conducive to captaincy as Max Gawn.”
The Demons will announce their leadership model early in the week, having been determined to tell Viney of the votes late last week but dismayed it leaked out.
Last year Viney and Nathan Jones were co-captains with Neville Jetta and Gawn rounding out the 2019 leadership group.
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