Tez, are you saying because he's 22 he doesn't have the respect of the playing group?

I wouldn't really believe that. Do you know who the players respect and who they don't?

personally i see only 2 options. junior (for one year) or mclean. i think junior only has one year left, and that is one of the reasons he is a more preferable option to bruce/green, because i think the club will want to get a young bloke to captain the side asap. both mclean and junior lead by example on and off the field, so i think both are good choices.

Similar thoughts.

Id make Junior Capt for next year.with macca as vice c and heir apparent. If he ( macca) shows his worth( in that kind of position ) ..he can take over once Junior departs.

Maybe Macca can captain one week, then Macca can captain the next week

Somehow, this thread became so lame.

Brad Green.

end of

Maybe Macca can captain one week, then Macca can captain the next week

No multiple captains at Melbourne, please. Macca or McLean. McLean is ready now though.

Yeah I agree.

I'd prefer Green for next year with Mclean vice, then we see how they are at the end of next year. I see these two as our best leaders (with Rivers if he could ever get fit).

I love Junior but I think he's at the stage where it'll be hard enough for him to get on the park and compete consistently, let alone lead a team. Brad Green tries his guts out, plays hard, gets the footy and uses it (when he doesn't do those bloody snaps around the corner without looking) and seems to be largely respected amongst the team.

the reason i don't favour green or brue, is because other than maybe captaining next year, i wouldnt want them to be captaining afterwards. and i dont believe in making someone a captain for one year, then taking it off them. if you make green captain, he is captain til retirement or til he voluntarily gives it up (ie injuries etc). thats why i think mcdonald is the better choice, as it allows us to hand it on to the young brigade (read mclean) at the end of next year).

Junior has been a valiant and underrated warrior at MFC over the years.

However towards the end of 2007 and throughout 2008, Junior looked like the game had pushed past him and no matter how hard he tried (and he did) he made little progress. I would expect Junior to perform off the bench cameos in the 2nd half of 2009 then retire. To me there is little value giving captaincy to a player that is going to battle with the speed of AFL going forward

All the more reason to put a player who is really going to lead from the front now and into the future.....Take a bow Brock.

Rhino..I sort of agree.. but !! I think Junior would make a great mentor of the captains role for Maclean. I dont want to just hand it to him I want him to know how its done properly. Junior was far and away the better of the two ( he and Bruce ) at leading the club. Possibly Junior's role will reduce as the year runs on and in a way that may work well lfor Macca to step up after the handling the understudy's mantel.

The way I see it, the MFC has 3 options, and I know my most preferred option of the three (identified in bold).

1/ Retain McDonald and Bruce as co-captains for 2009. With a newly named leadership group.

2/ Decide on one captain only for 2009 ie rewarding Bruce on his B&F. Including a newly named leadership group.

or

3/ With a new leadership group, they make a strong/bold statement, signifying a fresh new look demon outfit with Brock McLean as appointed Captain on top of their objectives to hit the ground running on and off the field.

PS. I can't see Green in the picture as captain IMO. For the same reasons as outlined by deanox, and it would only delay a fresh strong leadership approach.