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News Liam Baker and Liam Duggan named co-captains in 2026

Who should be appointed captain of the club for 2026?

  • Liam Duggan

    Votes: 9 7.5%

  • Liam Baker

    Votes: 94 78.3%

  • Someone else

    Votes: 17 14.2%
  • Total voters
    120

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Liam Duggan and Liam Baker will lead the West Coast Eagles as co-captains for the 2026 AFL season.

Following a vote by the playing squad, Duggan and Baker’s co-captaincy was endorsed by the Football Department leadership and ratified by the Board this week.

Jake Waterman and Jack Graham will continue as leaders after joining the group last year, with Reuben Ginbey, Matt Flynn and recruit Brandon Starcevich included for the upcoming season.
Click to expand...

Co captains and Matt Flynn in the leadership group. Fire up campaigners.
 
Altum Volantes

Altum Volantes

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Pretty straight forward here - who should be appointed captain for 2026?

There are really only 2 genuine contenders here - I've included the 'Someone else' option for the contrarians to enjoy - but realistically it's Liam Duggan or Liam Baker. Co-captains is off the tabld, it's not happening again.

Both guys have good cases, both have pros and cons.

Liam Duggan

Pro -
Current Co-Captain - has shouldered the bulk of the captaincy while Oscar Allen's time at the club detoriated.
Willing and able - unless his feelings have changed, he is very keen to take on the responsibility.
Long term senior player - 200 games in the blue and gold, and part of our last Premiership as a young player.
Presents very well in the media.
Hard at it player who has filled multiple roles in recent seasons.
28 (29 in December).

Con -
Current Co-Captain - It's been a horror 2 years as captain including Adam Simpson and Oscar Allen's departures and just 6 wins from 46 games. Awful.
Decline in form - 2025 was not his best season and he has some very vocal detractors.
Role in team - As the side continues to rebuild, does a 29 year old Liam Duggan retain his role (and his position in the team).
Tough sell - those who follow the club closely will likely understand the decision to retain Duggan as skipper but casuals, those keen for a change and those external (media, oppo fans), will likely criticise the decision, potentially quite vocally.

Duggan has been a good servant for the club and very willingly took on the captaincy at a difficult time for the team. It would be fair to say he has not enjoyed his first 2 years in role but to be fair, he has had to share the role with Oscar Allen, who did not make the job any easier. Duggan is a hard worker who is part of our best team but at the same time a player we may look to move past over the next 2 seasons for younger options as the rebuild continues.
In short, has Duggan really had a 'fair shot' to show his wares as captain? Is it time to back him in as the solo skipper or simply time to put the Allen/Duggan captaincy to bed and move forward.

Liam Baker

Pro -
Hard at it and tireless in his endeavour, Baker is simply the kind of player you want leading out on the field.
Our reigning club champion and clearly our best performed player in 2025.
'Fresh' and new to the club - yet to absorb the 'stink' of 2022-2025.
27 (28 in January).
Popular choice - supporters like him, appears to already be a popular clubman too. The media would praise his appointment, at least in the short term.
Plenty of experience, multiple flags at Richmond.

Con -
New to the club - on the other side of the coin, Baker has played just 1 season for the club - for many, he is still a 'Richmond guy'.
Costly trade - rightly or wrongly, there is a perception that we over paid to bring Baker to the club - should his form drop away or he run into controvesy it is likely the spotlight could intensify.
He is not a polished media performer (to be kind) and may be a risk in this regard.
He would be against type in terms of the kind of personality usually appointed captain.
A knock-about kind of guy, he might be better suited as a VC.

Baker's first season at the club went as well as could be expected for a 1 win season. He has delivered onfield 'as advertised' and immediately preaented as a viable captaincy option. He is rough around the edges but very likeable and plays a brand of footy that endears him to supporters. He is new to the club, which may be a good thing but could also count against him.

Ok cases presented - pretty straight forward - who is your pick?
 

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I would go with Baker and Duggan as co-captains.

That way we don't have the uncomfortable situation of sacking someone from the captain's position who's still on the list (after Allen's departure, we don't need discomfort there next year), and we still get the benefit of Baker's apparent leadership in the position. And co-captains isn't new after all for us.

I'd also be looking at getting other players ready for captaincy positions from 2029 and later - Ginbey would appear the most logical right now as a future captain (I think Harley Reid would be better off not having that role - he'd be better off just being the star player, and vice-captain, but I'm happy to be convinced he could do it).

I don't see anyone else on the list as ready (yet) to be groomed for captain/vice roles - though I'm sure there are a couple of players who'd be great, once they've actually settled a place in the team.
 
I'm fine with either. Although there seems to be a reluctance to drop senior players to the WAFL when their form is down. This coupled with the optics of dropping the captain to the Beagles makes me lean towards Baker. I can't see him dropping in form, and Duggan's has been patchy.

Plus our backline is going to be stacked next year with Yeo, Allen, Starc, Maric, Hough, Ginbey, Grego, Young, Bazzo, Edwards, Brock, Baker (who can also play half forward or even mid unlike Duggo) all vying for backline spots.
 
i reckon we're going to be pretty sucky again next year. i think we'll improve; i just think it could be to ~5 or 6 wins, which would still have us in the bottom couple of teams. we'll be the youngest team in the comp again, so will continue to lack winning experience and ability to run out games.

on that basis i'd have duggan as captain for another year to 'absorb' the suck. Baker C the year after, when the fruits of the 2024 and 2025 draft crops can start to influence a bit more and we can rise up the ladder a bit more (hopefully!)

similar thing with Simmo; we could have easily got rid of him a year earlier, but we were gonna be garbage no matter what, and at that point we were still on the way down. having him absorb that pressure in 2024 was actually a pretty good move by the club. imagine if mini joined the club in 2024, and now had back to back years of bottom four misery. he'd be under way more pressure coming in to 2026.
 
I may be weird, but I'm up for giving Duggan a fresh go at it for 2026 after the changeovers and debacles of the last two seasons. Whether that's solo or co captain with Baker, I'm not fussed. In my mind our new era starts now. Enough stink and old boys have been moved on, and McQ has had a year to tinker with whatever he thinks needs to be done. A fresher and clearer perspective may be beneficial for Duggan
 
Snake and Bake

Shake And Bake GIF by The Heckler by TBS
 
Sorry AV, I already started a thread on this topic in September.

Please delete or you'll be hearing from my lawyers!

Prediction - Club Captaincy & Leadership Group 2026 Discussion/Predictions

Yep, the 2025 season well and truly kicked us in the nads. There were many facets and contributors to our disappointing campaign this year, but there was one glaringly obvious issue. Our leadership...or lack thereof. Oscar Allen got caught doing the dirty over a slice of pizza with Sammy "The...
www.bigfooty.com www.bigfooty.com
 
Duggan for mine - or also happy with co-captains. Better media performer than Baker and I saw nothing to suggest his leadership wasn't strong in 2025. Duggan's supposed form struggles were massively overstated on here.
 

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RustyShacklefordFalcon said:
Sorry AV, I already started a thread on this topic in September.

Please delete or you'll be hearing from my lawyers!

Prediction - Club Captaincy & Leadership Group 2026 Discussion/Predictions

Yep, the 2025 season well and truly kicked us in the nads. There were many facets and contributors to our disappointing campaign this year, but there was one glaringly obvious issue. Our leadership...or lack thereof. Oscar Allen got caught doing the dirty over a slice of pizza with Sammy "The...
www.bigfooty.com www.bigfooty.com
Click to expand...

Ahh jeez - I searched too!

I start like one thread a year and now I'm one of those guys!

I have a poll though Rusty! POCKET SAND!
 
Can we add Liam Ryan to the list.
I think it should be only Liams.
A liamdership group if you will.
 
Last edited:
I hope we don't do co-captains next year.

I wouldn't be disappointed if it was Baker, and I could understand if it's Duggan with a chance to be solo captain, but I think I'd like to see Waterman as captain. He's a lifetime Eagle (is even a F/S), his position would be one of the first picked each week, he shows good on-field leadership, he keeps very high training standards, and he's surprisingly good with the media from the interviews I've seen of him.
 
MeltMan said:
Can we add Liam Ryan to the list.
I think it should be only Liams.
A liamdership group of you will.
Click to expand...

Sadly, with Ryan's departure from the club, we have handed St Kilda true Liam Supremacy in 2026. We had previously both held 3 Liams but I don't think a double Liam set up would be appropriate considering the Saints now hold a ridiculous 4 (yes 4!) Liams on their list - including Stocker, O'Connell, Henry and of course, Ryan.

I suspect their pursuit of Flying Ryan may have been related to the Eagles attempts to collect Jacks in the early 2020s - which ruffled a few feathers at St Kilda as the Saints have enjoyed many years as the undisputed Jack accumulators of the competition.

For what it is worth - despite Jack Steele departing the club this off season (quickly replaced by Jack Silvagni), the Saints will go into 2026 with a total of 9 players named either Jack or Liam - nearly a quarter of their list.

Anyway, it's not a major issue, just worth considering.
 
Altum Volantes said:
Sadly, with Ryan's departure from the club, we have handed St Kilda true Liam Supremacy in 2026. We had previously both held 3 Liams but I don't think a double Liam set up would be appropriate considering the Saints now hold a ridiculous 4 (yes 4!) Liams on their list - including Stocker, O'Connell, Henry and of course, Ryan.

I suspect their pursuit of Flying Ryan may have been related to the Eagles attempts to collect Jacks in the early 2020s - which ruffled a few feathers at St Kilda as the Saints have enjoyed many years as the undisputed Jack accumulators of the competition.

For what it is worth - despite Jack Steele departing the club this off season (quickly replaced by Jack Silvagni), the Saints will go into 2026 with a total of 9 players named either Jack or Liam - nearly a quarter of their list.

Anyway, it's not a major issue, just worth considering.
Click to expand...
I might have to switch clubs if they can manage a Jill supremacy in their AFLW team
... Or Diane.
That was a dark autocorrect...
 
Last edited:

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