Tricky one, as Lever and Gus were the obvious ones to take over as official leaders. I expected them to take over sooner.

Gus is medically retired. He left a serious hole at the club from a leadership and cultural perspective, probably more than most realise.

Lever is now 30 and battling form and injury.

Other option is Trac, who is also 30 and perhaps not the right fit culturally after last year.

May has one season left on contract and is declining rapidly.

We have a serious list gap through mid 20s, as it's a key reason we're now struggling on field. That next week of players after our star senior core never came on. Guys like Sparrow, Spargo, Petty are all 25 years old, should be at their peak and the core of the team now.

Thinking number 19 might do in a year’s time

On 29/06/2025 at 04:12, BW511 said:

I’d be looking at a trade for a strong leader. A Callan Ward type who fronts up and plays their role every single week.

Lever will have his hands full trying to get a game.

Trac doesn’t want to be here and the team first stuff doesn’t come naturally to him.

Rivers needs to get settled in a role and become consistent, long before he can dream of being captain

I tend to agree with a few posts made today, as good as Max has been, he has also papered over a lot of cracks that are now being exposed.

It’s not a united club, pulling in the same direction.

Agreed, good time to do a Roos and trade in a Bernie Vince and Jordan Lewis, if they're going.

Petracca is the only realistic option in the timeframe Max has remaining unless we trade someone in. In years gone by I would've said Lever but he's falling off a cliff and its starting to look like his body isn't going to hold up.

Petracca has recent history of spitting the dummy about how unprofessional we are, I'd be interested to see him put his money where is mouth is and take over the leadership. We know on a personal level is is highly professional. Will that translate to effective leadership as captain? Not sure, but in my view I don't see any other options in front of us.

It’s grim but as it currently stands we don’t have anyone better than Kade Chandler.

If Petty could settle in a role and give consistent effort and energy he’d be an option.

As it stands Bowey is the only one heading in to the right direction.

I'm not at all focused on the next captain. I see it as a distant second to who's our next coach.

Now I've no intention of derailing this thread to that effect but just wishing to posit that this ( captain) is not the problem of the hour.

I can see Max playing out 300. As such the notion of next leader will probably sort itself out by then.

Tbh... not seeing any slam dunk selection just atm. Many possibilities all come with their own issues.

Next Captain??? Not today's problem. There are others.

Cheers

The fact that we all struggle to agree and align on a choice for mine is such a tell tale sign of so many of the clubs issues.

Had we a strong leadership core, much of the onfield issues (lack of effort, players visibly frustrated, poor execution , goal accuracy) would be nowhere as severe.

It also shows how out of whack our age profile is with very few 23-28! Range.

Gus was easily and by a fair margin the next captain. Would have been one of the best in the competition.

Is it possible for Gawn to be an offield captain? Perhaps we can extend his contract to captain from the sidelines?

Speaking of Brayshaw, although not Gus, someone like Andrew would be a great addition for our on and off field mix.

He’s exactly what I’m after so that Max can play out his remaining years without the weight of carrying the club off field as well

Edited Monday at 02:432 days by BW511

Who of our younger players has held an on field leadership position at a junior club? Xavier Lindsay? Who (if anyone else)?

2 hours ago, JJJ said:

He’s not ready yet but Disco would be on my list in 12-24

5 hours ago, Adina88 said:

Why was Petracca an 'obvious pick'. He's never (ever) been captain material. It's not about being a BOG, it's about genuine leadership character, and if there's one thing Trac isn't really good at, it's being genuine leadership material. It would have been ANB (there's a reason they've slotted him straight into VC at the Crows - he'll be captain within a few years). I'll put my two cents in say it will be Chandler.

He looked an obvious pick to me because of his charisma and media capabilities.

I don't get to training often but what I saw last Thursday was somebody who didn't respect Viney when he was addressing the team. Brand Petracca completely rail roaded the talk. Good bye Trac

3 hours ago, Dee Dee said:

Who of our younger players has held an on field leadership position at a junior club? Xavier Lindsay? Who (if anyone else)?

Langford was co-captain of the Stingrays with Cooper Hynes last year.

4 minutes ago, Random Task said:

Langford was co-captain of the Stingrays with Cooper Hynes last year.

Also Lindsay was captain of the Gippsland Power.

Lindsay and Langford as co-captains!

I doubt anything like that has ever been tried before. What could possibly go wrong?

On 29/06/2025 at 13:47, 710 Asbury St said:

Clarry’s bandages. They held up semi well… Could still see the bit of mess underneath, but was hidden to a degree so consistent with MFC.

In all seriousness, I have no idea. I’m not in the Trac is awesome camp (I don’t dislike him either). And it’s not bc of last year and the brand—more because he’s not performing as well as we’d like. Same as Clarry except people are more likely to talk about Clarry around fitness.

I do like the idea of Langdon. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, not sure how the team sees him though. Someone on FB said Trac and Clarry as vice captain. I can’t picture anything worse for Oliver. Aside from performance concerns, he’s definitely not the type who’d be happy fronting the media etc.

So maybe a either Langdon captain, Lever vice or vice versa?

Clarrie’s not even in the leadership group though.

Gawn has it until his retirement afaic. No one else is within kooee of being captaincy material.

Adding to the discussion - Gawn was a rank outsider when he took the mantle. I thought it was a mockup when I first heard it, and when it was confirmed I thought the Dees had made a huge mistake. I couldn't have been more wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if there are clear leadership development pathways internally that we know nothing about.

I will stick with Rivers for captain and maybe McVee for VC.

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Clarrie’s not even in the leadership group though.

I know, I was joking about his bandages. I have seen him as vice captain discussed on social media though. From all I’ve seen about him, I can’t imagine that’s something he’d even enjoy—and I mean more the off field stuff with press interviews etc. He just seems nervous when he has to speak to the media.

18 minutes ago, 710 Asbury St said:

I know, I was joking about his bandages. I have seen him as vice captain discussed on social media though. From all I’ve seen about him, I can’t imagine that’s something he’d even enjoy—and I mean more the off field stuff with press interviews etc. He just seems nervous when he has to speak to the media.

You’re right: captaincy is not something that Clarrie would want to do, and it’s also something I could never see being offered to him.

On the subject of potential captains, I find it amusing that according to some on here the criteria seems to be the next captain should be someone who is playing really well at the moment. The mere suggestion of Kozzie as the next captain is ridiculous.

Personally I think Spaz has future captain written all over him, as does Kolt and Chin

That’s the distant future, in the near future I’ve always thought and still think Ricky Lever should be our next captain, and so did many others on here… when he was playing well.

The qualities found in a captain don’t appear and disappear depending on their current form.

As always, this is MY OPINION.

Edited Monday at 12:312 days by Ghostwriter

10 hours ago, beelzebub said:

I'm not at all focused on the next captain. I see it as a distant second to who's our next coach.

Now I've no intention of derailing this thread to that effect but just wishing to posit that this ( captain) is not the problem of the hour.

I can see Max playing out 300. As such the notion of next leader will probably sort itself out by then.

Tbh... not seeing any slam dunk selection just atm. Many possibilities all come with their own issues.

Next Captain??? Not today's problem. There are others.

Cheers

It’s a conversation topic, one of many.

8 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

You’re right: captaincy is not something that Clarrie would want to do, and it’s also something I could never see being offered to him.

On the subject of potential captains, I find it amusing that according to some on here the criteria seems to be the next captain should be someone who is playing really well at the moment. The mere suggestion of Kozzie as the next captain is ridiculous.

Personally I think Spaz has future captain written all over him, as does Kolt and Chin

That’s the distant future, in the near future I’ve always thought and still think Ricky Lever should be our next captain, and so did many others on here… when he was playing well.

The qualities found in a captain don’t appear and disappear depending on their current form.

As always, this is MY OPINION.

But it’s important that a captain is in the best 22 and more importantly on the list. I am not convinced we can be sure of either with Lever in 2026.

I suggest unless he doesn’t want it that Gawn goes again in 2026 but with 3-4younger players in the leadership group with him. I would suggest they should come from Rivers, Chandler, Petty, Sparrow but I think all of them need to show further on field potential.

12 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Personally I think Spaz has future captain written all over him, as does Kolt and Chin.

That surprises me GW, but as you are so much closer to them than me, I respect what you are suggesting.

As an outsider, I’ve always thought Rivers was captain material from day one. I do think form is important however, as a captain should be able to lead from the front. Trent has not progressed as much as I thought he would, but that could soon turn.

Whatever happens, we have a couple of years to wait yet ( thank god) before we need to decide. It will be interesting to see who puts their best foot forward over this period.

Viney for two years from the end of 2026. Not that he was much chop at it the first time, doesn't seem like he has the interpersonal or communication skills, but there is nobody else left with anything resembling professional standards that would be up for the job.

Edited yesterday at 07:331 day by Pirlo

Gawn said he was giving up his captaincy in 2025, so there must be someone waiting in the wings. Whether it be Viney for a couple of years or they go with Trac or Lever or both, I believe those are the likely outcomes. I feel a Co-captaincy of Trac/Lever would be the best result rather than an individual captaincy as Lever is injury prone and his form has dropped significantly. While we all know what happened with Trac and going rogue against the club has made it hard for supporters and the club to trust him again. Having both of them sharing responsibilities could help ease the load and commitments of the captaincy.

Maybe we go full Neeld and let Oscar Berry have a go first up

11 hours ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

But it’s important that a captain is in the best 22 and more importantly on the list. I am not convinced we can be sure of either with Lever in 2026.

I suggest unless he doesn’t want it that Gawn goes again in 2026 but with 3-4younger players in the leadership group with him. I would suggest they should come from Rivers, Chandler, Petty, Sparrow but I think all of them need to show further on field potential.

Agree that the younger brigade need to be rapidly developed and I would add Kozzie Pickett and maybe McVee to your list of Rivers, Sparrow, Chandler and Petty. However, to my mind there are only two candidates that could step into the void in the near future, Rick Lever if he can get his body and game back to his best and Christian Petracca if he can continue to build on his current fitness and desire to lead. I am sure that the club will be working on our leadership issues.