Future captain?

[rpfc 27,692]

I'm surpised people would put Aaron Davey and Captain in the same sentence. I'm still iffy on Aaron being in the leadership group.

Flashes in and out of games and isn't exactly a "follow me, I'll lead you there" kind. Kitchen gets too hot for Davey.

I like Brent Moloney and Jared Rivers as leaders but its still Brock for me.

Brock has had a slow start but I'm pretty sure this time last year people were bagging Brock and how Nath Jones had passed him by a country mile. Brock will be fine.

Right now Aaron is our best player and he is a leader.

Not just to Bennell, Jetta, Jurrah, and Wonaeamirri but to all the younger players who want to become elite runners and kicks of the footy.

He is slight, but no-one can deny he doesn't give for the team: one percenters, constant pressure, gut running, always willing to be an option etc.

He is quiet, but I grow weary of leaders that strut around and yell and don't get you anywhere.

The youngest group in the league would get a lot out of following Aaron Davey.

IMO if McLean and Moloney continue to have trouble staying on the park and in form, Aaron Davey and Jared Rivers would be the next in line.

[Little Goffy 13,011]

We have three very distinct age categories at our club - a handful of veterans, a handful of 'peak years' 25 year olds, and a host of very young players.

From the Veterans, the question obviously is, how many years do they have left, and is there a risk of decline?

I'd be confident that Green will still be going around for a few years yet, but I'm less sure of the others in that group, and couldn't recommend them as captain right now. That said, I'm not yet ready to assume that McDonald is playing his last season. We'll see.

From the mid-age group tere are a few strong players with a lot of passion and determination, but as has been pointed out there are an awful lot of injury issues here as well.

Rivers, Moloney, Davey and Mclean are all quality players when fit and have all shown real commitment to the club as well. I would be shocked if we didn't have all four in the leadership group from next year and on, and I would expect that our next captain will come from this group. We all have seen them for ourselves and accumulated our opinions, so I wont elaborate further. Miller deserves a mention as a dedicated player, trainer and club man, but can go missing too often I think. Meanwhile, I think we can take the lead from Yze Magic who, despite being a firm believer in the impending arrival of Colin Sylvia, doesn't have him as a captaincy nomination. A few All-Australian seasons from Colin would be a satisfactory return on our faith, yes?

Of the young guys, a couple have been marked from birth as leaders. The mark is easily recognised - it is "Jack".

Jack Grimes was widely touted as an excellent player and a responsible, calm and moderating influence on the playing groups around him. Emma Quayle's "The Draft" makes several mentions of him in this context, basically noting him as the best leader in the group that toured South Africa, alongside Trent Cotchin. Some may remeber that he was Captain of the Northern Knights when it seemed to be chockers full of potential number one draft picks, so obivously some rate him. It also doesn't hurt that he grew up as a massive Demons fan, like Brent Moloney from the mid-age group.

Jack Watts. Aside from an unprecedented combination of results at draft camp (sprint, agility, leap, height, peripheral awareness, ability to make babies stop crying), and a best-of-carnival award for the under 18s championships, it is just about impossble to go a week without seeing some article somewhere that tells us all about what a charismatic, unpretentious, warm, and dedidcated guy Jack Watts is. Which is nice. But perhaps the element of these articles that gives the fans a little rush of adrenaline is the regular commentary on his absolute determination to be the absolute best he possibly can be. His leadership potential might be summed up with the comment 'he's like Nathan Buckley, but not a #$%'.

BUT, may I request that some form of voluntary code be introduced where we never again actually declare a very young player as a 'future captain' - when people started saying it about Miller, his form collapsed and only slowly recovered over years. When people said it about Mclean, his form/body collapsed for a couple of seasons as well. It's a genuine kiss of death, so can we stick to thinking of 'who would be our best choice as captain starting this year/next year only.

[MelbournePassion 7]

Two average games for Mclean in a row. This is where a future captain steps up and starts playing good footy.

CMON DEES!