Leadership Vacuum?

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King Elvis

King Elvis

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Aug 13, 2006
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Do we have a lack of strong, influential leaders in our team?

Goody is Captain, he's not bad, deserves it, but he's a placeholder.

Whose next in line?

Thommo - behavioural issues still a factor? Disciplined enough?

VB - leadership skills apparently extremely good, works very hard on the track so will set the right example, but is he a good enough player to be Captain?

Maric - Massive heart, passionate, intense, has a go; but he is a good enough player?

Bocky - prior to the incident with his ladyfriend, he would've been my next choice; now, I'd say he's no chance.

Truck - FB for a start, but again, is he playing well enough to lead from the front?



Whose else is there? Doughty is Captaincy material. Scott Stevo might make a good VC, but can't see him as a Captain who commands his men.

Whose our next Captain? Is VB still a shoe-in, or has the fact his performance has stopped improving rapidly and he might be a good player rather than a great one a problem?
 
Danger is showing grreat signs, but to find someone to have it for 2-3 years while he developes his game. Don't know. Would have to be someone who would retire in 2-3 then yeah? I wouldn't want the captaincy taken off me in my prime.

Maybe Truck or Thommo. 2-3 years then Danger.
 
VB will be our next skipper, no doubt.... I reckon Vince will be in the leadership group next year. Of the young lads Dangers and Otten I reckon could be future leaders of the club. Was surprised to see Maric's name mentioned. Has never come across to me as the sharpest tool in the shed.
 

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King Elvis said:
VB - leadership skills apparently extremely good, works very hard on the track so will set the right example, but is he a good enough player to be Captain?
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Well what's the problem. Maxwell and Cassisi are captains. VB is better than both of them

Edit: I forgot to mention Harley
 
Maric :eek: maybe we should let him focus on getting back in the team and playing consistent foorty over a long period of time

ypo need to do more than fly the flag on occassions to be a capt

In my opinion Thompson, VB, Dangerfield and Vince are all leadership material

D=Mac and Tippett could also be considered down the track
 
It should be a 1st tier player who's under 30, and we don't have a lot of them at the moment. Thompson, Bock, Porplyzia, Vince...hmmm.

I'll back Bernie Vince.

(Since I have no idea, I may as well get long odds.)
 
VB will be our next captain.

He's been groomed for this role for the past 2 years.

Is he good enough?? Look around at the captains of many other clubs for comparisons and he's good enough alright. :thumbsu:

He'll be a captain in the style of Mark Bickley, who also played more as a blue collar mid-fielder, but with eloquence off of the field.
 
Cap said:
Bernie Vince

enough said
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I think by the process of elimination you are right.

Don't have to be the best player out there but must command a weekly spot in the 22, have minimal obvious off-field or on-field character issues, and be extroverted enough to cope with all the media and promo work.

If VB is counted as no danger to become a fringe player then he is obviously still in the running.

And what about Knights? Impressive person from all accounts, very dedicated, trains as hard as anymore, always in the play...long shot i know but i wouldn't mind a bloke like him in the leadership group in the future.
 
Cap said:
Bernie Vince

enough said
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Yep.

Another out of "left field" may be Symes. I have a mate who played with him at Centrals and he reckons he is a born leadership player. Just keep him away from cars at training.

I would love to see Maric as captain if not Bernie. He has fire and in two years time will be amongst one of the best Rucks.

Goody is a Claytons captain.
 

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I'm feeling a lot of love for Andy Otten lately (in a completely football related, non-gay kind of way of course), I reckon he could be a real good leader, watch this space.
 
TheLeftFist8 said:
I think by the process of elimination you are right.

Don't have to be the best player out there but must command a weekly spot in the 22, have minimal obvious off-field or on-field character issues, and be extroverted enough to cope with all the media and promo work.

If VB is counted as no danger to become a fringe player then he is obviously still in the running.

And what about Knights? Impressive person from all accounts, very dedicated, trains as hard as anymore, always in the play...long shot i know but i wouldn't mind a bloke like him in the leadership group in the future.
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not a bad thought. maybe if he improves his kicking :p

@geoffa - would need to cement his spot first, which Vince has done and will have done for good by the end of this season or next
 
Cap said:
not a bad thought. maybe if he improves his kicking :p

@geoffa - would need to cement his spot first, which Vince has done and will have done for good by the end of this season or next
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Vince is my first pick. He has stood up the last year and a bit and seems to rev the other guys up on the field too.
 
Leadership skills are far more important than ability when it comes to choosing a captain for any sporting team, so long as the captain is good enough to keep his spot, naturally. I think there is a leadership vacuum at the club, but for different reasons than outlined in the opening post.

Goody is captain, so he must have some leadership skills out there on matchday, but I don't see them. The best captains lead by example, put their head over ball and take the hit when its their turn. Goodwin does not, mind you he's got a few mates at the moment in that deparment.

Thommo gets in, his work in the packs is outstanding and he's a hard worker, leads by example very well other than the odd ill disciplined act. Here is the problem though, if you want to be captain attitude problems are simply not acceptable. He has gotten better, but has a lot to prove before he can be considered captain material in my opinion. His decision making is sometimes lacking, which seems to indicate he may lack the "footy brain" required to captain an AFL side. Just because a player is good, and plays in the middle it doesn't mean you make him captain.

I could go on, but my overall feeling is that we lack presence in our onfield leadership from most, if not all our senior players. Where are they when Walker has a shot on goals in a pressure situation, pat him on the bum, say go back and just take your shot, don't play on. Likewise when some flat-track bully like Chad Cornes or Will Minson is picking on someone smaller, say a Mackay or Douglas. Where are the senior players? The only one is Maric-and he's dropped! The way I play sport is not aggressive (I don't play football anymore due to injury) but you stick up for your team-mates almost unconditionally. Of course you don't take your focus off the game, but when that kind of thing is happening someone needs to step up and tell the offender that its not going to be tolerated and to kindly f off. Better still, run through him later (legally of course).

Of course, I am not privy to the inside workings of the club, but it seems to me that we've been lacking both types of on field leadership since Roo finished. Van Berlo leads by example, and seems to have a good head on his shoulders. For me he should be the next Captain of the club, but there are others-Vince for example. More leadership, enthusiasm and hardness at the ball is being shown by the younger players at the moment, is this the way it should be?
 
The whole "next captain" debate really exposes our 23-29 age bracket. Bock would have been my choice but after that incident, we would get torn to shreds by the media for appointing a "girl basher" as captain. So who else is there?

VB ahead of Vince and Knights would be the most likely choice at this stage. VB needs to pick his form up a notch though.
 
pjcrows said:
Van Berlo should concentrate on important things - such as basic disposal and goal kicking - before he thinks about leading the team.
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Definitely agree, at the moment I'd like to see him concentrate on getting his game right. Whilst he's getting the ball okay, his disposal has been well below what it has been and should be. He has always come across to me as one with very neat disposal. IMO this has been seriously lacking from his game this year and perhaps due to his foot injury, he has failed to show any improvement on last year.

macca23 said:
VB will be our next captain.

He's been groomed for this role for the past 2 years.

Is he good enough?? Look around at the captains of many other clubs for comparisons and he's good enough alright. :thumbsu:

He'll be a captain in the style of Mark Bickley, who also played more as a blue collar mid-fielder, but with eloquence off of the field.
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Can't disagree with any of this, only that before we hand him the captaincy, I'd like to seem him get his game into order. He hasn't come on this year as I would have liked and I think King Elvis makes a great point that there is perhaps a bit of a leadership vacuum at the club.

Having said that and it may be too early to call but hey why not? I think Patty Dangerfield has future captain written all over him and not the Richy Vandenberg, Dom Cassisi or Nick Maxwell mould, but the Ricciuto, Voss or Buckley way. He is always well spoken, has a genuine presence on the field and has real game changing ability. I think his ability to go forward in the last quarter against Port and kick those two goals has been very under-rated, not to mention the two gems he kicked against Geelong when our other leaders had gone missing and the 1 or 2 against Freo, he has really stood up at times this year, when the likes of Mcleod, Goodwin and co havn't. He's not there yet, but say in 3-4 years time I think we may have a quality captain on our hands.

For me and I know there'll be those who disagree, but Reilly, had he been not so struck down with injuries, would have been a great contender. Whilst he may not be a Mark Ricciuto, you could count on him to do the right things, has and continues to act as a mentor to our younger kids, especially the Victorian ones and the club would be in safe hands.

Definitely a good thread and whilst I'm still very much for VB as our next Captain, I think he has a bit to go with regards to his own on field performance and I just hope he can get it right before the end of the year, because I'm not sure Goody will be around next year.
 
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