Toby Nankervis admits his appointment as Richmond co-captain for the 2022 season came as quite a surprise.
The triple-premiership ruckman will share the captaincy duties with Dylan Grimes for the upcoming campaign – the first time the Tigers have appointed co-captains in club history.
A key member of Richmond’s premiership dynasty, Nankervis has been a revelation since arriving at Punt Road from Sydney in the 2016 trade period.
The 27-year-old is embracing the challenge of sharing the captaincy mantle with premiership teammate Grimes.
“It was a little bit of a surprise to be honest. I thought I’d never get the opportunity to do it,” Nankervis told SEN’s The Run Home.
“I’ve had some more conversations about it (in the pre-season) and something popped up.
“I’ve always said this year that if I had the backing of the footy club and the players, especially my teammates, I’d be happy to do it.
“It was a little bit of a surprise getting the nod, but it’s something that I’m actually quite confident that I can do.”
Nankervis was asked if he has any qualms with Sydney Stack performing a backflip off a cliff with the start of the AFL season just a month away.
The Tigers young gun’s risky stunt came in for strong criticism from Kane Cornes on SEN Breakfast on Monday morning.
“No issue at all. We encourage all players to go out and have lives away from footy,” Nankervis said.
“I have no problems seeing ‘Stacky’ do that.”
Stack, 21, has played 33 senior games and comes out of contract at the end of the season.