Review Interim Captain thoughts

[VSTone]

with the Interim Captain idea being floated about after the "Achilles incident".

do we need one?
if so, who do you think it should be and why?

 

[little graham]

The way things normaly work is if your captains injured, the vice captain gets the gig. If you have more than one vice captain, you alternate coin toss and media duties.

Can't see why there would be a need to change anything.The club will have a pretty good idea how the leadership group was panning out.

 

[Vader]

The first question is whether they will appoint a new permanent Captain, or an interim Captain (with VB keeping the permanent job)? It is my assumption that VB will retain the Captaincy, with an interim appointed presently.

VB's appointment as Captain was always going to be long-term. His leadership abilities having been identified before he was drafted and the club spent many years developing him as a team leader. Don't forget that he was added to the leadership group in only his 2nd or 3rd year on the list, back when the likes of Roo, Macca & Goodwin were all still in their prime. When he was appointed it was expected that he would hold the position well into his 30s - and nothing which has happened since then is likely to change the club's mind on that subject.

Contrary to the opinion of many here on BF, VB's position in the team has never been in any real doubt at the selection table - and not just because he has the big 'C' next to his name. 2013 was his worst season in a long time and he still managed to poll B&F votes in the majority of the games he played. According to Champion Data's analysis, he won 10 of 13 contests in which he was involved for 30+ minutes. Fashionable he might not be, but he gets the job done and the coaches & selectors recognise that (even if the fans do not).

For these reasons, it is my assumption that his replacement will be of the temporary/interim variety.

As I see it, there are 4 possible candidates to replace him:

Dangerfield & Sloane - Logic dictates that one of these two will be his long-term replacement when he retires (or steps down as Captain), unless he hangs around long enough to pass the baton to Brad Crouch - a possibility which I wouldn't entirely rule out. Both have been in the leadership group for the last couple of years and both have demonstrated solid leadership abilities.

That said, I think it's unlikely that either of these two will be appointed as the Interim Captain. Both would have long term aspirations of being appointed Captain once VB's tenure eventually comes to an end. To appoint them as an Interim Captain, only to have the title removed when VB returns, is not ideal for a player in that position. I think the club would be more likely to appoint someone who is clearly a temporary replacement, so as to not muddy the waters ahead of an eventual decision regarding VB's successor some years down the track.

Truck - Rutten would make a fine Captain. His leadership of our young defence team over the last few years has been exemplary and I have no doubt that he would do an excellent job of handling the Captaincy. The big question is how long he can keep on trucking. His heir designate (Hartigan) has already been blooded and the club will probably be looking for opportunities to get more games into him, to minimise disruption to the team when Rutten eventually calls it a day. Will they want to appoint a player who is likely to be "rested" on a semi-regular basis throughout the year? Probably not.

Thompson - For a long while Thompson seemingly had no leadership ambitions at all, until he was forced into a leadership position when all of our veterans retired en-masse, leaving him as our #1 and most experienced midfielder virtually overnight. In 2013 he was the team's Vice Captain, with Dangerfield & Sloane acting as his deputies. Thommo probably only has 1 or 2 years to go and there is no way that his appointment could be seen as long term, nor would it be showing favouritism for a future Captaincy decision between the young guns. His position in the team would appear secure, barring injury. Looking at it from as many angles as possible, I think Thompson would be the perfect candidate and would thus be the most likely appointment.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

... or we could look to the Hawthorn model. Nothing wrong with Mitchell's captaincy (was a good captain), but they felt it was even better for their spiritual/inspirational player Hodge to take over.

IMO, the situation is similar at AFC. I have no doubt VB would continue to be a solid captain, but Danger would probably be a better one. Our circumstances/options are now different to when VB took up the captaincy.

I also think VB is in our best-22, but he has slipped to be arguably no longer in our top-15 players.

IMO, it is time that VB concentrates on recovering from injury & settling back into playing consistent football in a consistent role ... & this means relinquishing the captaincy.

AFC & VB now have the perfect excuse to make the transition.

Why go for a short-term solution (ie. Rutten who is likely to be rested in games or Thommo who had his poorest year in a long time), when we have 2 viable long-term solutions staring us in the face...

 

[VSTone]

a Rutten / Thompson combo is my leaning on interim captaincy,
if Danger or Sloaney get appointed and perform then i think it should be a change of the guard for the longer term.

but I'm going to throw up a smokie in "Eddie Betts" - likely to play all games and ready to fly!
and would make this pre-season article headline quite spooky...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...ys-champion-data/story-fni5f4l8-1226790155646

 

[Vader]

I guess it all depends on who they see as being Captain in 2015? I think they see VB as being the Captain until he retires, in which case the replacement has to be temporary - in which case Thompson is the best choice. If they see it going to Dangerfield or Sloane in 2015, then they might as well just bring the decision forward by 12 months and give it to one of the two young guns.

 

[rocket18]

Surely they would only consider an interim captain if they were confident of VB being captain in 2015.

Even the VB (for captaincy) supporters were saying prior to the injury that 2015 was when Danger should get the nod.

 

[VSTone]

I guess it all depends on who they see as being Captain in 2015? I think they see VB as being the Captain until he retires, in which case the replacement has to be temporary - in which case Thompson is the best choice. If they see it going to Dangerfield or Sloane in 2015, then they might as well just bring the decision forward by 12 months and give it to one of the two young guns.

will Thommo be ready to fire for round 1? almost thinking he's more important to the team focussing on getting back to full steam.

 

[Vader]

will Thommo be ready to fire for round 1? almost thinking he's more important to the team focussing on getting back to full steam.

I'm probably not the best person to answer that question. Better directed towards someone who has the opportunity to attend training during the summer. I have no idea how his post-surgery (hip) rehabilitation is going.

 

[Wright Away]

A half measure that is not required, it is the soft option, the lazy, not ever winning another premiership option (not preventing a premiership alone, more evidence of a particular mindset), so yes I think the Crows will go with this option as they have amazing form in the soft option department. They couldn't make a decision to tell Tippett no on his contract and it landed us in shit, they couldn't make a decision on Neil Craig for eons and eons, they cannot make decisions on players that they bring in for a game or two each season who are on the list for 5 years.

They couldn't sack Trigg.

They will go the soft option of interim captain, and it will please all those people who love to say, "don't worry there is always next year".

 

[Wright Away]

What would Malcom Blight do?

 

[Bicks]

What would Malcom Blight do?

The unexpected as always......

 

[Campbell's Chunky]

Gotta be Rory Laird!

 

[skoobydoo]

The first question is whether they will appoint a new permanent Captain, or an interim Captain (with VB keeping the permanent job)? It is my assumption that VB will retain the Captaincy, with an interim appointed presently.

VB's appointment as Captain was always going to be long-term. His leadership abilities having been identified before he was drafted and the club spent many years developing him as a team leader. Don't forget that he was added to the leadership group in only his 2nd or 3rd year on the list, back when the likes of Roo, Macca & Goodwin were all still in their prime. When he was appointed it was expected that he would hold the position well into his 30s - and nothing which has happened since then is likely to change the club's mind on that subject.

Contrary to the opinion of many here on BF, VB's position in the team has never been in any real doubt at the selection table - and not just because he has the big 'C' next to his name. 2013 was his worst season in a long time and he still managed to poll B&F votes in the majority of the games he played. According to Champion Data's analysis, he won 10 of 13 contests in which he was involved for 30+ minutes. Fashionable he might not be, but he gets the job done and the coaches & selectors recognise that (even if the fans do not).

For these reasons, it is my assumption that his replacement will be of the temporary/interim variety.

I know it still fits into the 22 but the coaches rated him a somewhat lowly 13th in terms of 'getting the job done'.

 

[Elder van Berlo]

I think they should appoint VB captain with Danger and Sloane joint VCs.

That way they can have a good close look at Danger and Sloane as potential captains, because for all intents and purposes that's what they will be this season. They can make a more informed decision about who our future captain will be.

Then we will have the option in 2015 of appointing any of the three of them as captain, without having embarrassed any of them.

And Brad Crouch... gun footballer he is, captain material he ain't, imo.

 

[JP Sauce]

Contrary to the opinion of many here on BF, VB's position in the team has never been in any real doubt at the selection table - and not just because he has the big 'C' next to his name. 2013 was his worst season in a long time and he still managed to poll B&F votes in the majority of the games he played. According to Champion Data's analysis, he won 10 of 13 contests in which he was involved for 30+ minutes. Fashionable he might not be, but he gets the job done and the coaches & selectors recognise that (even if the fans do not).

10 out of 19 is a majority, yes. But I'd hardly call it a great success.

He was voted as one of our clear best 5 players just once for the entirety of the season (based on B&F results). In fact in roughly half the games he polled votes in he was still in the bottom half performanse-wise, with a lot of his votes coming in big/easy wins where almost everyone got votes.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Gotta be Rory Laird!

Would this mean that Rory might finally speak in the locker room?

 

[radiojake]

What would Malcom Blight do?

Throw VB into the ruck

 

[little graham]

What would Malcom Blight do?

Why don't someone ring him and ask?

He'd go on tele (or radio) using that medium to get a message across to his players, the spot is open for tender, what he expects and asking to be impressed

 

[mattymac]

This would not even be an issue if Blighty was at the helm. He would've sorted it by now.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

It'll definitely be an interim appointment, even if they think it will be a permanent thing.

Either an interim appointment with VB taking over again when he's back

Or an interim appointment with VB handing over officially next off season

 

[Elite Crow]

10 out of 19 is a majority, yes. But I'd hardly call it a great success.

He was voted as one of our clear best 5 players just once for the entirety of the season (based on B&F results). In fact in roughly half the games he polled votes in he was still in the bottom half performanse-wise, with a lot of his votes coming in big/easy wins where almost everyone got votes.

Now how many games did Reilly, Wright and DMack poll in compared to games played? All were dropped, all polled total votes similar to VB.

 

[FR0GGY]

Now how many games did Reilly, Wright and DMack poll in compared to games played? All were dropped, all polled total votes similar to VB.

You can't drop your captain, don't be silly

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

IMO the club will appoint an interim Captain on the basis that they still hold some hope of VB returning this year

However IMO VB won't return this year and subsequently will formally relinquish the captaincy next off season citing that he wants to focus on his comeback and the interim Captain will then formally take the full reins with one year experience under his belt in the role

 

[JP Sauce]

Now how many games did Reilly, Wright and DMack poll in compared to games played? All were dropped, all polled total votes similar to VB.

Give me a sec, I did that vB stuff at work. Got important things to do now that I'm home though.