Max Gawn has stated that with there being a new coach, might be time for a new captain..

What’s your thoughts on that?

Who do you believe is in the running?

I'm happy with Maximus staying captain for the time being, Premiership captains are rare and precious, and should be revered, as Max is.

I'd have Kozzie as Vice Captain and in the pole position to replace Max should he (Max) decide to step back post 2026.

10 minutes ago, PaulR said:

I'm happy with Maximus staying captain for the time being, Premiership captains are rare and precious, and should be revered, as Max is.

I'd have Kozzie as Vice Captain and in the pole position to replace Max should he (Max) decide to step back post 2026.

I was flabbergasted when he said that it may go elsewhere. He’s bloody brilliant, and probably the best in the league as captains come.

Not sure who I’d have as his replacement, lots of the young guys are probably great fits but too early on.

I think that Max stays as captain for at least more season before someone new takes over.

I can't help but notice how prevalent and vocal with the group Kade Chandler has been in some of the recent output from the media team. Could he be a smokey?

Just now, Demon Jack said:

I think that Max stays as captain for at least more season before someone new takes over.

I can't help but notice how prevalent and vocal with the group Kade Chandler has been in some of the recent output from the media team. Could he be a smokey?

Hope you’re right, not sure this is the best time to hand over the reigns.

You may be right. But is he a big enough name? Usually goes to the “guns” of the team.

13 minutes ago, Demon Jack said:

I think that Max stays as captain for at least more season before someone new takes over.

I can't help but notice how prevalent and vocal with the group Kade Chandler has been in some of the recent output from the media team. Could he be a smokey?

Kade isn't captain material in my opinion, you need someone who is a certainty to play every week.

Lever is the strongest leader we have and is the most obvious captain on our list, however his body is letting him down and he is ageing now. Given we're shifting to the next generation too, he could be a decent stop-gap choice or be bypassed altogether for a younger option.

Our 24-28 year old bracket is poor and probably the key reason we've dropped off when the old timers have declined. That is the group of players who should be in there prime and carrying us, yet we get little from them and lack consistency there. We've got Steele, Viney, and May, all former captains on the list, but all too old IMO.

Long term Lindsey and Disco Turner stand out to me as young emerging leaders at the club.

Langdon is my tip as a smokey stop-gap captain for a few years until the next generation group mature and an obvious leader becomes apparent and is ready.

Solid leadership from Gawn. No-one's position is safe, including his own

But he will 100% be voted in as captain for 2026.

Lever and Viney making excellent vices/deputies

If a change is needed in 2027, and Lever stays fit and performs well, he would be my pick to take over

Long term, Turner maybe and then Langford

33 minutes ago, PaulR said:

I'm happy with Maximus staying captain for the time being, Premiership captains are rare and precious, and should be revered, as Max is.

I'd have Kozzie as Vice Captain and in the pole position to replace Max should he (Max) decide to step back post 2026.

I can’t see Kozzie ever being vice-captain let alone captain. He’s not comfortable in the spotlight… off-field. He’s introverted and he’s the first to tell you he will never change in this regard.

1 minute ago, Lord Travis said:

Lever is the strongest leader we have and is the most obvious captain on our list, however his body is letting him down and he is ageing now. Given we're shifting to the next generation too, he could be a decent stop-gap choice or be bypassed altogether for a younger option.

Our 24-28 year old bracket is poor and probably the key reason we've dropped off when the old timers have declined. That is the group of players who should be in there prime and carrying us, yet we get little from them and lack consistency there. We've got Steele, Viney, and May, all former captains on the list, but all too old IMO.

Long term Lindsey and Disco Turner stand out to me as young emerging leaders at the club.

Langdon is my tip as a smokey stop-gap captain for a few years until the next generation group mature and an obvious leader becomes apparent and is ready.

I really like Turner as he is a certain starter either forward or back and remains calm in the heat of battle eg intervening between May & Max late in the Pie's game,

Max is the ongoing obvious choice, and a great player, leader, etc... not a fan of Lever taking it on next as I believe that beyond Max's time it would need to be a midfielder, and a player capable of turning games and lifting the team off their own prowess.

This limits the options at the moment to Koz, with several young players (i.e. Langford, Turner, ...?) potential depending on their continued development...

4 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

I can’t see Kozzie ever being vice-captain let alone captain. He’s not comfortable in the spotlight… off-field. He’s introverted and he’s the first to tell you he will never change in this regard.

I agree he's an introvert, but also see him as a proud leader who would respond well to that role in the team on match days. For me the off field aspects of the captain are superflous (relative to the onfield role) and when Goody said "we could build a team aroiund Kozzie" I agreed and if indeed he's our Number 1 player we should make him our captain, he may grow into it...

And BTW I don't see this happening for a couple of years (with Koz doing his apprenticeship as VC)...

I say Max still wants it - you can see he takes the individual accolades seriously even though he is not retired. Said the right things in the interview, but behind the scenes i'd say there'd need to be a good reason for someone to take it off him.

I'd also add that with Trac and Oliver gone, he'll definitely have a spring in his step and a weight off his shoulders.
However, we'd want to look long and hard at brining in some youth into the leadership team rather than go with the seniors and have them develop whilst Gawn is still in a playing capacity.

6 minutes ago, PaulR said:

I agree he's an introvert, but also see him as a proud leader who would respond well to that role in the team on match days. For me the off field aspects of the captain are superflous (relative to the onfield role) and when Goody said "we could build a team aroiund Kozzie" I agreed and if indeed he's our Number 1 player we should make him our captain, he may grow into it...

And BTW I don't see this happening for a couple of years (with Koz doing his apprenticeship as VC)...

I think most would agree he deserves it but I really can’t imagine he’d accept it. It’s certainly something a great player can grow into, as you suggest, and the on-field aspect might not be an issue for him, but fronting up to the media and addressing his teammates all together probably isn’t something he’d ever be comfortable with. He said he’s been an introvert since childhood and it hasn’t changed at all. It likely never will.

Lever and Viney are probably the only candidates.

Lever is fraught with injury issues and Viney is in his twilight.

I'm for keeping Gawn for one more year and then perhaps Rivers. I wouldn't be averse to Rivers moving up to VC in 2026 if the explanation to Viney and Lever can be managed but probably not worth the angst.

I reckon Max has it unless Max decides he doesn't want to be Captain, and tbh he might just be sick of it after the last 2 years.

We could do a co captains model.

max, kozzie and rivers or turner

Reminds me of the good old days with Trengrove and Grimes

The time for a new captain is not yet.

4 minutes ago, Robbie On Skates said:

The time for a new captain is not yet.

Agree, no stand out alternative. This won’t be popular, but Chandler may be a good vice captain. He has leadership qualities.

1 hour ago, PaulR said:

Max is the ongoing obvious choice, and a great player, leader, etc... not a fan of Lever taking it on next as I believe that beyond Max's time it would need to be a midfielder, and a player capable of turning games and lifting the team off their own prowess.

This limits the options at the moment to Koz, with several young players (i.e. Langford, Turner, ...?) potential depending on their continued development...

You're confusing performance and impact with leadership. The ability to turn a game is not a requirement to be a leader. The ability to set culture, direct team mates, shield team mates, and help them get the best out of themselves. It's also necessary now to front the media, so some semblance of public speaking and... shield team mates. They are the qualities of a captain, not how many goals they can kick or how many disposals they can rack up. In fact, defenders are far more often captains than forwards. By your logic, Petracca and Oliver should've been the next captain and vice captain. reality is neither are leaders suited to that role.

Kozzie will never be captain and doesn't want to be. He's not the right type of person. He should concentrate on his football output.

2 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Max Gawn has stated that with there being a new coach, might be time for a new captain..

What’s your thoughts on that?

Who do you believe is in the running?

Um, he didn't volunteer it; he was answering a (random!) question about connection between changes and the captaincy: "There's been a lot of change happening at Melbourne. Do you see yourself continuing as captain next year?"

On balance, his answer was of the 'I'd love to keep it' variety.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/1941050/afl-origin-gawnys-excited?videoId=1941050&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1765387812001

53 minutes ago, In Harmes Way said:

Reminds me of the good old days with Trengrove and Grimes

Hopefully we learnt our lesson about pushing responsibility onto players before they're ready. It's such a shame how their careers panned out with injuries, as both were natural leaders and footballers who should have had long successful careers.

I think a stop-gap for a few years once Max hands over or retires is the way to go. Long term there are some options assuming they are still at the club and continue developing well.

2026 will be a huge year for a number of our young-but-not-junior players. New coach to impress and big shoes begging to be filled after some prominent but leadership-deficit departures. Pickett, Rivers, Chandler, Sparrow, Turner and Petty all have a chance to make it a career defining year. Bowey also if he can make best use of his recovery time and then come back strong.

You could contrast it with McDonald and Green, both of whom rose to the occasion as captains but both of whom could have benefited from not being thrown in the deep end so late in their career.

At the very least as a club we have a short window now to identify and prepare leaders to avoid the Grimes and Trengove scenario, both of whom had the character to be leaders but could have benefited from not being thrown in the sewerage end so early in their career.

Who will be our 2028 premiership captain?

Being an AFL captain should be earned, not given. Gawn remains the stand out leader in the playing group and until one of the younger players make an undeniable case for themselves, should remain as captain and likely will.

Rivers does seem a prime choice for mine and Disco should be in the conversation too. Guys who were marked as future leaders under Goodwins tenure such as Sparrow and Chandler need to step up their on field contributions significantly to have a flicker of a chance.

Langford and Lindsay were both captains of their U18 TAC Cup teams and are smokeys with a break out season but they're both still very young and are unlikely to be ready in 2-3 years time.

Van Rooyen is another budding leader who is in the right age bracket to make a statement with his performances.

Time will tell what happens, but I don't believe we're as lacking in the leadership department as some here seem to think we are. A lot of the guys I mentioned are still maturing at their own rate and could be closer to the mantle than any of us might think, Gawns shadow as one of the greatest captains in our clubs history is a large one after all.