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Captaincy

Pirlo
Pirlo
in Melbourne Demons

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Posted

An uncomfortable question - 

Max is the oldest captain in the league, with the next-oldest being Witts who works in tandem with another.

Most teams' captains are from the 2013-14 drafts, and Max is 4-5 years older than that.

I love the man. Best Demon since the 60s in my view, but could it be time to move on. I have absolutely no issue with him personally.

Four factors make me ask this question:

1. He's reaching the point in his career where most greats slow down significantly. He'll be 33 in December, and has now gone down with niggling injuries for weeks at a time on a number of occasions since the flag. He really is one bad knee injury away - and he did two ACLs years ago - from having to give it up. As it stands, he feels compelled to play through pain and return early because he's the skipper. 

2. Most great players give up the captaincy, and all that comes with it, in their mid 30s to focus on lengthening their careers - Cotchin, Fyfe, Walker, Pendlebury are all recent examples of this. 

3. The level of effort across the board this year has been uncharacteristic. I'm not talking results, I'm talking pure effort. Max not included in that, his standards are elite (reminds me of Jonesy during the bad years), but he's the guy who leads the others. Could a fresh voice at the top be an option? Max's comments after last week were telling - "I don't care about finals, I care about putting some pride back in the jumper". Some people felt he was being cavalier there, I didn't. I feel like he's struggling to deal with the poor showings from a number of our players who just don't look invested some weeks. Tonight's game will be telling - will they do what he's asked? If not, and they show up as they have against Freo x 2, the Pies, the Dogs...we'll know they're not listening.

4. This one is painful, because I think he's the best media performer of his AFL generation and has every right to both play and be a regular media personality, but I listen to Max every Monday and Friday on MMM. He's on there to have a laugh with Wil Anderson and get himself primed for what he'll do post-career, but there's now been multiple weeks where we get belted on Saturday/Sunday and Max is laughing on the radio on Monday. He never excuses poor efforts, he more says things like "oh we were terrible, yeah" before moving on, but perhaps its for the best he's doing regular segments like these whilst not also being the skipper.

I reiterate that I've got no issue at all with Max. I'm just wondering whether its time to look to the future and let Max just play footy, keep himself fit, and carry on his slow transition to his post-footy life whilst still dominating in the ruck for a couple of years to come.

I'd probably favour a Lever/ANB or Lever/Petracca ticket to replace him, but there's definitely no obvious candidate.

Edited by Pirlo

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    Just now, Heart Beats True said:

    Anticipation Popcorn GIF

    Will be interesting. I hope I've expressed my admiration for Max clearly enough, but suspect plenty will skim read and be ready with their torches!

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    Yeah you do wonder who will be our next leader.

    I mean you look at other clubs & you can pick the youngsters coming through.  Collingwood have daicos who oozes leadership & you just know sheezel will soon be nth captain. 

    Sadly the player who could had been our next captain is brayshaw.  

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    12 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

    Yeah you do wonder who will be our next leader.

    I mean you look at other clubs & you can pick the youngsters coming through.  Collingwood have daicos who oozes leadership & you just know sheezel will soon be nth captain. 

    Sadly the player who could had been our next captain is brayshaw.  

    We must've flipped over to an alternate universe where the Saints picked Petracca and McCartin retired from the Dees 2 years ago. I think a transition period of 3+ years would be ideal for Christian from next year or 2026 through to 2028+ Then we'll see which young player will have stepped up.

    Edited by John Demonic

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    I reckon most Demonlanders would agree with this. The OP certainly articulates a position that aligns with mine.

    I'd go with co-captains, and they'd be Lever and Trac.

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    10 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

    I reckon most Demonlanders would agree with this. The OP certainly articulates a position that aligns with mine.

    I'd go with co-captains, and they'd be Lever and Trac.

    I'm personally not a fan of co-captains, feels a bit like not committing to either of them. Perhaps I'm just burned from the weird shoehorning of Viney into what by rights should have been the Jones captaincy.

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    5 minutes ago, Pirlo said:

    I'm personally not a fan of co-captains, feels a bit like not committing to either of them. Perhaps I'm just burned from the weird shoehorning of Viney into what by rights should have been the Jones captaincy.

    Yeah, I would have gone with a single captain at the start of this year, but given Lever and Trac's respective seasons, I feel it could work.

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    Ricky Lever. That’s all. 
     

    😃

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    Hard call I think it really boils down to who has the trust and respect universally throughout the group. Trac in my mind is a bit like Coniglio and is probably not suited to the role. Not a huge fan of the Lever idea but it doesn’t appear that we really have anyone else. 

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    I almost don’t want to comment because he’s both a playing great and the best captain in my time as a supporter.

    Personally I think he has 1 more year. But at a push, we have CP? Viney?  and prob the top pick Lever. But… it hurts to even think about it. 

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    Another year for Max and then I'd be looking at a generational change for the leadership. Rivers is my pick.  By the time 2026 rolls around he'll be around the 120 game mark and he'll turn 25 in July of 2026. He'll still have some experience around him to support him. Trac will be 30 at the start of 2026, Lever a similar age profile. He's already playing like a leader.

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    Trac to take over next year... He sets the standard on and off the field. Max needs to concentrate on being Max. The last two years has shown a need for change.

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    One to watch for the captaincy in the future is JVR. 
    not for our next captain but maybe the one after that

     

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    Gawn has done more than his fair share and deserves to enjoy the twilight of his career without the burden of captaincy. 
     

    Regardless of what we think tho, our leadership group has always been voted for by the playing group. So ultimately it is their decision to make who leads the club next year. 

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    2 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

    So ultimately it is their decision to make who leads the club next year. 

    I am wary of this, as a rule. The North players have consistently voted Luke McDonald skipper. Is that because he's a star with amazing standards? Or is he a nice bloke who they aren't intimidated by and tells them what they want to hear? Coming off a season like ours, I don't know whether the group - many of them young - should get the final say over who leads the team. 

    Edited by Pirlo

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    I've been thinking about this the last couple of weeks. The only problem I can see is that Max seems to like being the man. Whether he's happy to step aside or not, I'm not sure.

    If he was, agree Rick and Trac are next cabs off the rank, ably supported by Nibbler.

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    I would have said Viney without question but his form has been average. We need some grit and mental toughness. 

    Next cab off the rank is Lever

    Not Trac after the year he has had

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    I'm not yet ready to face life post Captain Max, but I a little bit looking forward to the couple of years he gets to be the grumpy old ruckman no longer restrained by the dignity of the title.

    I can imagine him quite literally narrating the free kicks he should be getting.

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    If it prolongs his career, I'm all for it when the time comes, which I suspect will be at the end of this year or next.

    While I think he loves the captaincy and suspect it's less of a burden on him than other AFL captains, I'd enjoy him playing without having to toe the line quite so much as Little Goffy mentions above. He certainly is a ripping individual.

    I agree with @Pirlo in choosing the captain and I suspect if the players vote for the less favoured candidate, the results might be massaged (eg. coaches get ten votes each).

     

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    Viney or Trac.

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    Put Max in the goal square for his last few years ,like big Bob Johnson,Like  to see Roo take over but his time will come as he grows up like Neita did.So as I go thru the candidates I see how young and inexperienced they are. May for a year or so then Lever then down to Tracc and Ollie

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