Rate the captains

[dean33]

Following on from the rate the coaches thread, thought I’d have a go at ranking the captains. Not an easy task however below is my list.

1. Joel Selwood - universally acknowledged as the best captain in the comp.

2. Trent Cotchin - who would have thought this 12 months ago however his 2017 was unbelievable, capped off by one of the most inspiring September’s you’d want to see from a captain. Battering ram.

3. Josh Kennedy - seems to be an inspiring type who leads with his actions.

4. Callan Ward - dual captain with Phil Davis however I rate him higher. Another inspirational skipper who always puts his body on the line.

5. Eastern Wood - led his team to a flag 18 months ago filling in for the injured bob Murphy. Very courageous player who you’d imagine would inspire, would want to have his teambounce back this year.

6. Jared Roughhead - only been skipper for a year so hard to judge however much loved by all so you’d think his teammates would run through a brick wall for the big fella.

7. Scott Pendlebury - classy player who always lifts when his team needs him.

8. Taylor Walker - drops down the list after a very poor grand final. Apparently is the standout leader at the crows, only chance to redeem himself would be to perform on the last Saturday in September.

9. Travis Boak - another inspiring leader although seemed to have an inconsistent last couple of years.

10. Shannon Hurn - mr dependable who has led the eagles for a few years.

11. Nathan Jones - another dual captain who bleeds for his club. Hopefully for his sake greener days are ahead for his team.

12. Nat Fyfe - elite player who has battled injury the last couple of years. Doesn’t come across as a natural leader and still growing in the role.

13. Dayne Beams - class player who by all reports is a very good captain.

14. Marc Murphy - another who doesn’t seem a natural leader who you’d think would hand over the captaincy to cripps in the next year or 2.

15. Jack Ziebel - no one could ever doubt this blokes courage although is guilty of sometimes doing silly things. No other standout replacement at the Kangas.

16. Jarryn Geary - apparently very well liked and probably the lowest profile of the afl captains.

17. Dyson Heppel - knockabout type who is very well liked. Has taken over the captaincy after a very tough few years for the club.

18. Tom Lynch/Steven May - don’t know much about their captaincy so have to rate them last.

 

[clivenator26]

Following on from the rate the coaches thread, thought I’d have a go at ranking the captains. Not an easy task however below is my list.

1. Joel Selwood - universally acknowledged as the best captain in the comp.

2. Trent Cotchin - who would have thought this 12 months ago however his 2017 was unbelievable, capped off by one of the most inspiring September’s you’d want to see from a captain. Battering ram.

3. Josh Kennedy - seems to be an inspiring type who leads with his actions.

4. Callan Ward - dual captain with Phil Davis however I rate him higher. Another inspirational skipper who always puts his body on the line.

5. Eastern Wood - led his team to a flag 18 months ago filling in for the injured bob Murphy. Very courageous player who you’d imagine would inspire, would want to have his teambounce back this year.

6. Jared Roughhead - only been skipper for a year so hard to judge however much loved by all so you’d think he’s players would run through a brick wall for the big fella.

7. Scott Pendlebury - classy player who always lifts when his team needs him.

8. Taylor Walker - drops down the list after a very poor grand final. Apparently is the standout leader at the crows, only chance to redeem himself would be to perform on the last Saturday in September.

9. Travis Boak - another inspiring leader although seemed to have an inconsistent last couple of years.

10. Shannon Hurn - mr dependable who has led the eagles for a few years.

11. Nathan Jones - another dual captain who bleeds for his club. Hopefully for his sake greener days are ahead for his team.

12. Nat Fyfe - elite player who has battled injury the last couple of years. Doesn’t come across as a natural leader and still growing in the role.

13. Dayne Beams - class player who by all reports is a very good captain.

14. Marc Murphy - another who doesn’t seem a natural leader who you’d think would hand over the captaincy to cripps in the next year or 2.

15. Jack Ziebel - no one could ever doubt this blokes courage although is guilty of sometimes doing silly things. No other standout replacement at the Kangas.

16. Jarryn Geary - apparently very well liked and probably the lowest profile of the afl captains.

17. Dyson Heppel - knockabout type who is very well liked. Has taken over the captaincy after a very tough few years for the club.

18. Tom Lynch/Steven May - don’t know much about their captaincy so have to rate them last.

May not be the ideal person to start this thread given bolded comments and missing Jack Viney as a co-captain. Fyfe did play a game with a broken leg and said in his Brownlow speech he’d die for the club, I think that’s a reasonable sign of leadership. Would have him easily above Jones/Viney, Hurn & Boak. Selwood whilst a standout wasn’t universally selected as best captain by the AFLPA since 2013, Tex has been the last two seasons.

 

[quotemokc]

Selwood definitely leads head first

 

[Bulldog1954]

Unless involved in the club, we have very little of the needed information to make any real assessments of who the best captains are. Most of what makes a good captain happens behind closed doors.

 

[mehow2g]

I can't comment due to I have no idea how these guys operate internally, the only thing I can go off is leading by example on field.

 

[ThaiTiger]

I'd rather rate their partners. It's easier. No offence OP. If you've got any pic's we can get started.

 

[Rance2Mewtwo]

Let's make a list of Brownlow Medalist Premiership Captains instead:

1. Trent Cotchin

That is all.

 

[BLUEALLTHRU]

I can't comment due to I have no idea how these guys operate internally, the only thing I can go off is leading by example on field.

Next......

 

[Roddy]

Selwood definitely leads head first

Yep, at least 5 or 6 times every single game.

 

[Captain_Bender]

It is no coincidence that Geelong's decline from premiership contenders to irrelevant also rans coincides with Joel Selwood's captaincy

 

[Scotland]

Unless involved in the club, we have very little of the needed information to make any real assessments of who the best captains are. Most of what makes a good captain happens behind closed doors.

This.

I'd also be interested to see what guys like Hurn and Geary are like as leaders. These guys aren't top 50 players so a lot of people automatically say 'why don't they make <player> captain instead?' Everyone fawns over the bravery of Selwood but he's also one of the top 10 players in the comp as rated by his peers and whichever journo publishes a list. I don't think he's any more courageous than Mitch Robinson, but players don't lead into battle behind Robinson because he's not that good and gives off the impression his IQ would be in double digits.

One that hasn't got a lot of press is Matt de Boer. Ultimate low profile leader. De-listed by Freo, picked up by GWS and now part of their 5 man leadership group after one year.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Cb|Player|Gms|W|L|D|Win %
\WB|Wood, Easton|18|13|5|0|72.22
\Ge|Selwood, Joel|139|94|44|1|67.99
\Ad|Walker, Taylor|69|46|22|1|67.39
\WC|Hurn, Shannon|70|46|23|1|66.43
\Ri|Cotchin, Trent|118|68|50|0|57.63
\Sy|Kennedy, Josh P.|21|12|9|0|57.14
\PA|Boak, Travis|115|62|53|0|53.91
\Me*|Viney, Jack|17|9|8|0|52.94
\Es|Heppell, Dyson|23|12|11|0|52.17
\Ha|Roughead, Jarryd|24|12|11|1|52.08
\St|Geary, Jarryn|23|11|12|0|47.83
\Co|Pendlebury, Scott|85|39|46|0|45.88
\GWS*|Davis, Phil|103|44|57|2|43.69
\GWS*|Ward, Callan|132|51|79|2|39.39
\Ca|Murphy, Marc|98|37|61|0|37.76
\Me*|Jones, Nathan|82|30|52|0|36.59
\Fr|Fyfe, Nathan|24|8|16|0|33.33
\GC*|Lynch, Tom J.|29|8|20|1|29.31
\GC*|May, Steven|25|7|18|0|28.00
\NM|Ziebell, Jack|18|5|13|0|27.78
\Br|Beams, Dayne|19|4|15|0|21.05

I believe Ward is the youngest of 33 captains to 132 games, ahead of Chris Judd by about five months.

 

[telsor]

EFA you’re supposed to play the ball not the opposition players head.

Which is what he did....Go read the MRPs finding...he ran towards the ball and didn't deviate towards Shiel, therefore he was playing the ball.

People also like to forget that Shiel played on...until he took another knock to the head from Astbury at which point he went off....but that's not as good a target to sook about, is it?

 

[telsor]

I believe Ward is the youngest of 33 captains to 132 games, ahead of Chris Judd by about five months.

Co captains should only count as half a game as captain (or less if there are more than 2).

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Cotchin really surprised me, was outstanding last year, happy to put him in the first couple, not sure Pendlebury deserves to be so high though, great player but i'm not convinced of his leadership qualities.

 

[Power Play]

I believe Ward is the youngest of 33 captains to 132 games, ahead of Chris Judd by about five months.

Do you have another one of those tables for each captain's finals record as captain?

 

[perplexed]

The onfield role of captain has changed over the last fifteen years from inspirational leader to more of an onfield coach who makes sure everyone is following the game plan.
It amazes me that so many teams continue with inside mids as captain when they are in the worse place to organise their team. The best place for a captain to play is as the extra defender.

 

[dean33]

May not be the ideal person to start this thread given bolded comments and missing Jack Viney as a co-captain. Fyfe did play a game with a broken leg and said in his Brownlow speech he’d die for the club, I think that’s a reasonable sign of leadership. Would have him easily above Jones/Viney, Hurn & Boak. Selwood whilst a standout wasn’t universally selected as best captain by the AFLPA since 2013, Tex has been the last two seasons.

I know viney is Melbourne’s captain however I rate jones higher hence why I included just him. As for fyfe I’m sure he’d die for the club but would his teammates die for him? There were a lot of rumors of issues between himself and the playing group a couple of years ago and probably the reason Mundy got the gig when pavlich stepped down. As for selwood, I think most would have him no.1 captain in the comp.

 

[dean33]

Unless involved in the club, we have very little of the needed information to make any real assessments of who the best captains are. Most of what makes a good captain happens behind closed doors.

This is true however we can still have an opinion on what we see from the outside can’t we? A bit like rating coaches, unless you are involved in the club it’s a hard thing to do however I’m still interested in what people’s thoughts are.

 

[Mningasimisonda]

It is no coincidence that Geelong's decline from premiership contenders to irrelevant also rans coincides with Joel Selwood's captaincy

And the start of a rebuild with a new generation of players after three premierships in five years

 

[demondavey]

May not be the ideal person to start this thread given bolded comments and missing Jack Viney as a co-captain. Fyfe did play a game with a broken leg and said in his Brownlow speech he’d die for the club, I think that’s a reasonable sign of leadership. Would have him easily above Jones/Viney, Hurn & Boak. Selwood whilst a standout wasn’t universally selected as best captain by the AFLPA since 2013, Tex has been the last two seasons.

I wouldn’t. Nathan Jones is criminally underrated and has really been the only glimmer of hope from an onfield perspective over the last 8 years.

The standard he has set without getting much assistance has been remarkable. Hurn has done a stellar job as well, similar age bracket to Jones (in fact taken one pick before him) and has also seen some tough days with the Eagles, but has been a source of rigidity for so long and been a key driver in their on field resurgence.

Boak has also set an incredibly high standard for Port, and while maligned at times, has been a rock solid leader.

Fyfe is an exceptional player and leader, but to suggest he has the others covered because he said he ‘would die for the club’ is pretty rich.

 

[Trav 20]

I know viney is Melbourne’s captain however I rate jones higher hence why I included just him. As for fyfe I’m sure he’d die for the club but would his teammates die for him? There were a lot of rumors of issues between himself and the playing group a couple of years ago and probably the reason Mundy got the gig when pavlich stepped down. As for selwood, I think most would have him no.1 captain in the comp.

Viney is a better player than Jones and a better leader.

Viney is the culture changer at the Dees. He has an intangible hardness Jones doesn't quite have.

He's still only 23, so I can understand you're not as familiar with him as you could be.

 

[tiger tyme]

after 2017 i would rate cotchen as the best captain in the league you can really see he leads by example... seems to finally have found the balance of whats expected on the field cant wait to see him at the peak of his powers both mentally and physically...CAPTAIN COTCH

 

[demondavey]

It is no coincidence that Geelong's decline from premiership contenders to irrelevant also rans coincides with Joel Selwood's captaincy

You’re a flat out troll and should be suspended from this forum for contributing nothing of value than to sit back and use any opportunity to pot Geelong at any given chance.

Your level of consistent and nonsensical contribution completely underlines your inability to have any sort of serious or meaningful conversation.

I’ve even had up to 5 PMs from your own supporters apologising for your pathetic consistent diatribe of muck raking.

 

[dean33]

Viney is a better player than Jones and a better leader.

Viney is the culture changer at the Dees. He has an intangible hardness Jones doesn't quite have.

He's still only 23, so I can understand you're not as familiar with him as you could be.

Jones comes across as a heart and soul type much like vandenberg and Newman were at the hawks and tigers. However youwatch your team much more than me so I’ll take I’ll take your comments on board. Your right though could be due to viney’s youth that I didn’t rate him higher than Jones.