Is Christian Petracca.

This is not to play others down but to celebrate our best player who is so emotionally invested and empathetic. 

And he is the next Captain of this great club.

Here is a little Petracca interaction I had on social media in 2015-  midway through the season only having won 4 games and been belted a few times.

He was confident they'd get things right, it took a bit longer than expected but he always believed.

I've been saying Petracca all year.  There are other worthy contenders but everything about him has oozed 'captain material' this year.

Max has in the last month lifted his captaincy to elite levels.  He had his break out, captain's game in round 23 and just kept building. 

But hey,  there is no need to even think about the next captain for a few years yet.  Let potential candidates bask in Gawn's leadership and learn from him.

So many great possibilities. We already have the best captain in the league. In waiting: Petracca, Oliver, Lever, maybe Brayshaw  and then the generation after includes Jackson and possibly Bowey (Mr Cool Head)!

When we first got Brayshaw I thought he would be the one.. But he's a bit of a punk kid still, lol.. Lever another obvious candidate, but I am all for Trac. He will be a Dee for life. Love him. Others will follow him too.

C - Lever

VC - Brayshaw 

Love Petracca, but for me the next captain has to be Jake Lever. 

 

lever or petracca are the obvious candidates for leadership positions

but who is to say that in a few years time when gawn is ready to hand it over (or retire at the end of his new contract as a 6 times premiership skipper) that there won't be another candidate emerging and jake and trac as then elder statesmen prefer to concentrate on their football?

max is an inspiration at the moment and has proved to be an amazing leader

Yep, next captain is Lever for mine. Just let Trac be Trac. No need to add additional pressure to his game. Lever is a born leader.

Trac rides the highs and lows of the external talk too much. 

It's great when it's positive feedback but when it's negative, he is affected easily. And being Captain, one needs more of a carefree approach ala Maxy. Trac has more sensitivity to him, so it's Lever for next Captain for me too. 

Trac will be one of the greats, he's the perfect vice skip in time but let's let him keep growing and dominating for the next couple of years. 

Lever

It's not that long ago we had no obvious captains. I actually don't think Petracca is "captain material". I'm happy with him being the best player in the competition which is what I think he will be for the bulk of the next 5 years (unless it's Oliver!)

I see Lever as the next captain. He is clearly the leader of the defence already and just exudes leadership when he speaks. 

Lever for me.  But it's Max's for the next two to three years and rightly so.  He's an outstanding leader who is just so relatable.  

How different this is from 5 years ago when we would struggle to come up with an appropriate captain.  There is probably half a dozen now that could step up.

I’m just enjoying the bloke who is captain now.

The boys have said ‘stay in the moment’ all year. It’s been 36 hours since we won the flag. I’ll worry about the future when the present isn’t so insanely rewarding. 

Lever for sure, let Trac be Trac

I thought Gus in the early years showed signs of a future captain, but now I’m leaning more towards either Lever or Trac. It depends what type of captain you want as to which one you’d choose.

Trac has matured no doubt, but by his own admission he was coming from a pretty low base. Lever has him covered in that regard.

Some schools of thought say the captain should simply be the best player. Pretty sure Lyon is of that view. In which case Trac would get the nod.

Both would do fine in the media. I think Lever is more polished in that respect but the increase in Trac’s media appearances such as AFL360 shows the club is comfortable having him as its face

The captain should certainly be someone who can lift the team when the chips are down, as well as an authoritative voice, both on.the field and in the rooms. They should also be inclusive of everyone in the group.

You could mount a case for either Lever or Trac, but I think it will be one of those two.

Whilst I understand the sentiment of this thread, at the moment I'm basking in the sunshine of the terrific captain we have at the moment, who I believe will lead this club more than capably for the next 5 years. Our next captain could come from anywhere after that.

Hope it's not Lever - he will always be a leader but he is very boring in interviews and I think that is important.  Petracca has shown this year he could do it - still plenty of time to go before that kind of decision needs to be made.

4-5 years from now, I see Rivers as a potential captain.

Defs Lever. He’s got this commanding presence about him. 

Trac is too emotional to be a club captain.

You need a steadying influence when times are tough, not tears.

 

Just allow Trac to be himself and leave the media commitments to others.

Lever’s on field direction is amazing. If you didn’t see him live this year you missed one hell of a show.

But Petracca has come so far with his footy, his preparation, his media work, his love for the club. He’s a worthy candidate.

The good news is we can probably put together a serious leadership group now. Players on all lines, with a variety of personalities and play styles.

Gawn, Viney, Petracca, Lever, May, Brown probably standout.

With Harmes, Salem, Oliver, ANB, Brayshaw, Tomlinson, McDonald, Langdon all worthy candidates.

Thats 14 guys! 13 premiership players. Whether we make a formal group of them or not doesn’t really matter. 

6 minutes ago, faultydet said:

Trac is too emotional to be a club captain.

You need a steadying influence when times are tough, not tears.

 

Just allow Trac to be himself and leave the media commitments to others.

The only time I’ve seen Petracca cry is when we won the minor premiership at Geelong, and it was tears for the fans and the club.

Lever gets impacted more by the heat of the game I think. That’s his flaw, if his sorts that he’ll go up another level. Not to say he’s not a great candidate but he’s not perfect.

Petracca’s been digging in and trying to win close games since very early in his career. His media work has improved leaps and bounds. If Gawn can go from class clown to premiership captain then Petracca can too. 

13 minutes ago, faultydet said:

Trac is too emotional to be a club captain.

You need a steadying influence when times are tough, not tears.

 

Just allow Trac to be himself and leave the media commitments to others.

Disagree.

Nothing wrong with showing a bit of emotion, Gawn does it. Trac has matured and will continue to do so. As captain, I think he’d blossom and surprise us all.

Not soon, but I’m eager to see it happen one day.