sum0005
7 Dec 2005, 19:50
Luke Ball is touted as a leading candidate to take over as the Saints' skipper next season, but the classy midfielder, who filled in admirably for the injured Nick Riewoldt earlier in the year, is playing his leadership aspirations close to his chest.
Speculation over the St Kilda captaincy began soon after the Saints' season-ending, preliminary final loss to Sydney with either Ball or Justin Koschitzke expected to get the nod for 2006.
"I honestly haven't thought about it - it's only when you and a few other guys in the media ask me about the captaincy that I think about it," Ball said on Thursday.
"I mean I've got to get in the leadership group first and then it depends - if the job is offered I'll have to have a good long think about whether I'm ready to take up the challenge and make a decision then."
When pressed on the subject, the 21-year-old said getting his body in shape for the coming season was his primary focus at the moment.
"It's a good question, but it's probably pretty early - I'm just trying to get my body right at this time of year," he said.
"I haven't been able to do a full pre-season since I've been here and I'm probably still not quite right in terms of that - it's still giving me a few little troubles here and there.
"That's what I'm trying to focus on and that's what all the boys are probably thinking about when you just start a pre-season. It's a long year and you've just got to try and get yourself in the best possible physical and mental condition that you can to take on a long year."
There had been some talk that a new captain would be elected during the Saints' recent pre-season trip to China and while Ball says this did not happen, he did reveal that the players had endorsed the continuation of the unconventional rotating skipper policy while in Guangzhou.
And don't expect the identity of the new captain to be made known anytime soon.
"We had a meeting about leadership and our leadership group formula and whether it should change, but nothing was mentioned about the captaincy - that tends to get left until towards the start of the season," he said.
"I think we've decided that the leadership group will be elected the same way - that you have to nominate and then the players get to vote - but the captain doesn't get voted on until next year, I think."
Speculation over the St Kilda captaincy began soon after the Saints' season-ending, preliminary final loss to Sydney with either Ball or Justin Koschitzke expected to get the nod for 2006.
"I honestly haven't thought about it - it's only when you and a few other guys in the media ask me about the captaincy that I think about it," Ball said on Thursday.
"I mean I've got to get in the leadership group first and then it depends - if the job is offered I'll have to have a good long think about whether I'm ready to take up the challenge and make a decision then."
When pressed on the subject, the 21-year-old said getting his body in shape for the coming season was his primary focus at the moment.
"It's a good question, but it's probably pretty early - I'm just trying to get my body right at this time of year," he said.
"I haven't been able to do a full pre-season since I've been here and I'm probably still not quite right in terms of that - it's still giving me a few little troubles here and there.
"That's what I'm trying to focus on and that's what all the boys are probably thinking about when you just start a pre-season. It's a long year and you've just got to try and get yourself in the best possible physical and mental condition that you can to take on a long year."
There had been some talk that a new captain would be elected during the Saints' recent pre-season trip to China and while Ball says this did not happen, he did reveal that the players had endorsed the continuation of the unconventional rotating skipper policy while in Guangzhou.
And don't expect the identity of the new captain to be made known anytime soon.
"We had a meeting about leadership and our leadership group formula and whether it should change, but nothing was mentioned about the captaincy - that tends to get left until towards the start of the season," he said.
"I think we've decided that the leadership group will be elected the same way - that you have to nominate and then the players get to vote - but the captain doesn't get voted on until next year, I think."