In terms of captaincy changes, this current AFL off-season has proven to be one of the most active in recent memory.
Headlined by some of the game’s greatest leaders such as Joel Selwood and Scott Pendlebury stepping down, plenty of clubs are in search of a new skipper.
Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney and SEN’s Josh Jenkins have broken down their picks for each of the clubs with a vacant captaincy role, as well as those rumoured to make a change.
See Cooney and Jenkins’ picks below.
Adelaide
Cooney: “I think the natural progression should be Tom Doedee because he is super courageous, he can marshal the troops back there, doesn’t do a lot wrong,” he said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“Whether or not you want a defender who’s going to be busy trying to take out a key forward as your skipper, probably the only concern with that.
“I think Ben Keays would be a really good leader, spoken to him on numerous occasions on SEN and he’s just got a great level head, speaks really well and you need that.
“I think those two would be the main candidates there.”
Jenkins: “I think Doedee is the obvious one, I think Rory Sloane would be pretty desperate to hang on to it if I’m having a guess.
“I think he’ll feel like he’s got some unfinished business, he’d love to probably hand the reins over with the club in a better position, in terms of maybe a game or two outside of the finals or maybe even sneaking in and making a final.
“Rory Sloane, I know him quite well obviously, I think he might be keen to hang on to it but I think Doedee is the obvious one.”
Collingwood
Jenkins: “It’s hard to follow in the footsteps of Scott Pendlebury but someone is going to have to do it.
“You’ve got (Jack) Crisp, (Brayden) Maynard, Taylor Adams is a strong leader at that club, Jeremy Howe as well but he’s sort of north of 30.”
Cooney: “I’m sniffing co-captains here, I think Taylor Adams and Brayden Maynard are the main two that stick out for me.
“You talk about playing the game the right way, Taylor Adams is aggressive, he’s stepped over the line a few times, but I think he’s matured in the way that he plays and the way that he speaks as well, Brayden Maynard is a bit of a hot head too.
“I think they’re two guys that Collingwood look to when you want to play the game physically and they do that and they provide that.
“I think Jeremy Howe is probably past that point now where he wants to be the captain.”
Jenkins: “I would imagine Crisp would be the way to go there, I know he’s not necessarily seen and heard from a lot but he’s very highly-rated from those who have been within the four walls of the footy club.”
Essendon
Cooney: “Where do we go here, there’s no natural fit to be the skipper.
“I think Dyson (Heppell) would probably be keen to do it again, whether or not the club want him to do it or just maybe concentrate on his footy at the back end of his career.
“Zach Merrett is an unbelievably diligent, professional player who ticks every box, but he’s probably too quiet.
“When he says something, people sit up and take notice, but I’m not sure he’s got that other side of him if you need to.
“Maybe you could balance it out with a player and go with the co-captaincy again, I’m not sure Andy McGrath is the right fit to be the skipper in terms of on-field, I’d just like to see him dominate games before worrying about being a leader, he hasn’t hit the level that certainly he would have liked.
“I think he needs to concentrate on his footy, footy first, become a star before you start taking over leadership responsibilities.
“Maybe Jordan Ridley could be the one.”
Jenkins: “Would Sam Draper be a sleeper or not?”
Cooney: “He’s a player that everyone loves, but does he need the burden of being the captain, he seems a free spirit to me.”
Jenkins: “I’m thinking in the Tex Walker vein, he’s a free spirit and Phil Walsh saw something in him.
“What about Redman off half-back, had a great season in terms of his performance, has he got leadership qualities that you know of?”
Cooney: “I wouldn’t be appointing Mason as the captain, again his game went to another level last year, he was really consistent.
“Just got to concentrate on doing it two, three, four, five years in a row before you start to take on these leadership responsibilities.”
Geelong
Jenkins: “This is a really tough set of shoes to fill because Joel Selwood is up there with the greatest captains to have ever played the game.
“You’ve got Mark Blicavs, you’ve got Tom Stewart, you’ve got Patrick Dangerfield, but all those three, I think Stewart is north of 30 as well.
“The obvious candidates are sort of on the other side of 30.”
Cooney: “85 per cent of their list is north of 30… I think the obvious one is Patrick Dangerfield.
“I think it’s an easy transition, smooth transition, everyone respects him, speaks well, does everything right, easy decision for me.”
Jenkins: “I would go Danger and Tom Stewart together, I would have those two work as co-captains.
“I think Danger is the sort of Monday to Friday rallier and has fun and those types of things, and Stewie is, these days, the game day performer, just get it done, one of the best defenders in the competition.”
GWS
Jenkins: “We’re not writing Coniglio off, and I think at his best he’s a great player and leader but the rumours have been around, the noise about Toby Greene, would you slot him in as skipper or not?”
Cooney: “If he wants it, I think the decision would be up to Toby.
“If he said to the Giants ‘look Stephen just wants to get back to getting the footy 30-35 times a game and getting back to that consistent level that saw him get that bumper contract’, I think if Toby went to the club and said ‘I’m ready to do it’ that it’s an easy decision.
“We know what happens on the field with him at times but you take the good with the bad with Toby.
“He’s the natural leader, he’s the guy that gets them going, he’s the x-factor on field and that’s enough for me.”
Hawthorn
Jenkins: “Ben McEvoy steps away to go and do a bit of farming.
“James Sicily, Dylan Moore, Blake Hardwick - is Sicily the obvious?”
Cooney: “Well they’re saying that he’s the natural progression, so there’s not a lot of other candidates that jump off the page.
“Luke Breust wouldn’t want to be the captain at this stage of his career and Dylan Moore, still learning his craft as they say, working into the midfield.
“Sicily is it for me.”