Top 10 Captains since the Turn of the Century

[Freomaniac]

Voss
Hodge
Selwood
Cotchin
Maxwell
Harley
Pendlebury
Buckley
Goodes
RIcciuto

I am surprised you couldn't fit a Port Adelaide player in that list.

Gavin Wanganeen, Matty Primus, Warren Tredrea, Dom Casissi, Travis Boak are all solid leaders

 

[The 747]

Yeah true. Pavlich at the dockers Captain from 2007-15 stood out like a sore thumb. We had Peter Bell before him who was Captain from 2002-06. He was solid but wasn't great. But he was someone we needed as captain at the time.

Selwood at the cats was interesting. He was young when he took the captaincy. But from 2011-22, that cats side consistently made finals. Cats had a few leaders under that period too.

Trent Cotchin was decent as a Captain from 2013-21. Which came into a time when Richmond made finals.

You could of made Dustin Martin captain at Richmond from 2018-2020, it wouldn't of mattered.

Joel was exceptional in that regard. Young captain in a team of veterans but the word was from the day he started he set the standard in terms of going hard on the track and in game.

 

[The 747]

I am surprised you couldn't fit a Port Adelaide player in that list.

Gavin Wanganeen, Matty Primus, Warren Tredrea, Dom Casissi, Travis Boak are all solid leaders

Port fans live to hate on their own team.

 

[Pistol Night]

Port fans live to hate on their own coach.

EFA

 

[The 747]

EFA

If it wasn't the coach it would be someone else.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

I am surprised you couldn't fit a Port Adelaide player in that list.

Gavin Wanganeen, Matty Primus, Warren Tredrea, Dom Casissi, Travis Boak are all solid leaders

Boak and Tredders maybe, who would I put out to do so though?

Im just not sure I could put either before those 10.

Definitely not Cassisi, amongst my least liked players to be honest.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

Gawn's onfield stuff is as inspiring as any player in the comp imo.

Agree with this, in fact Gawn is as good as onfield leader as any of the great names that have been mentioned on this thread. He tries his absolute guts out to get the Demons across the line and generally is a great last quarter player for that very reason, always leading from the front and by example..... just love the big man!

PS - He's also great at getting back from injury earlier than expected, just wants to help his side win at all costs.

 

[Percel]

I am surprised you couldn't fit a Port Adelaide player in that list.

Gavin Wanganeen, Matty Primus, Warren Tredrea, Dom Casissi, Travis Boak are all solid leaders

It’s not top 10 port captains

 

[Noidnadroj]

Pendles is an interesting one. Not sure his captaincy resume matches the reputation. He was a terrific player and a model citizen, but there’s some decent holes in his resume:

At the Pies from 2006-2024.

Pies made finals from 2006-2013. Pendles took over captaincy in 2014 - they missed finals 4 years in a row.

As captain Pies made finals 4 seasons and missed 5 seasons. When not captain it was 9-1.

When captain they lost a very close GF in 2018 - Pendles had an average finals series and a poor GF. No coaches votes in any of their 4 x finals.

Lost a very close PF in 2019 to GWS when they were missing half their team … Pendles had a shocker with just 18 touches. He hadn’t been below 20 in any game that season. Got 5 x coaches votes in QF, so a very good first final before the GWS debacle.

In 2020 he had 18 touches in EF and just 14 in bad loss to Geelong. Those 2 x finals were the 2 x lowest possession games of the season for him, so below average. No coaches votes.

In 2022 he played 3 very good finals with 11 x coaches votes across those finals. Unfortunately couldn’t help get his team over the line in a close final for the third time in 4 years.

In his 11 finals as captain they were 5-6. He didn’t kick a goal in any finals as captain. In the best players in 4 of 11 finals - not once voted in best 3 on the ground.

Then he relinquished the captaincy in 2022, and they won the flag under a different skipper in 2023.

So Pendles had longevity as a skipper. He played some terrific H&A footy and a few good finals.

But no flags. Poor performances in many big finals. Missed finals more than they made it. Won 53% of games as skipper compared to 68% when not. They won a flag 3-years before he started as captain and a year after he ended.

And the off-field stuff wasn’t his fault, but hardly reads well during his time in charge with multiple drug offences, DeGoey dramas, Racism issues with Lumumba and so on ….

So I’m not sure what credentials Pendles has as captain to have him anywhere near the top-10, let alone top-5??

Reputation has him there, just not sure the facts do.


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[Freomaniac]

Port fans live to hate on their own team.

Nope, I don't think they hate their players or even their captains.

Port fans have this uncontrollable Hatred of Ken Hinkley lol

 

[Freomaniac]

Boak and Tredders maybe, who would I put out to do so though?

Im just not sure I could put either before those 10.

Definitely not Cassisi, amongst my least liked players to be honest.

All of those Port Captains are solid. And yes even Casissi. Always had respect for him as he is a Fremantle fella.

Dom Casissi was unlucky he Captained Port when they were struggling.

Tredrea, Wayne Carey, Barry Hall, Jono Brown, Pavlich , Taylor Walker and Nick Riewoldt are all Tall forwards that were captains of their clubs

 

[Xtreme]

1. Hodge
2. Voss
3. Pendlebury
4. Rory Sloane
5. Barry Hall
6. Tredrea
7. Wood
8. Maxwell
9. Cousins
10. Harvey

11. Sicily

 

[The 747]

Nope, I don't think they hate their players or even their captains.

Port fans have this uncontrollable Hatred of Ken Hinkley lol

Nah, they are haters. Hopefully they get Ross Lyon as their next coach.

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Pendles is an interesting one. Not sure his captaincy resume matches the reputation. He was a terrific player and a model citizen, but there’s some decent holes in his resume:

At the Pies from 2006-2024.

Pies made finals from 2006-2013. Pendles took over captaincy in 2014 - they missed finals 4 years in a row.

As captain Pies made finals 4 seasons and missed 5 seasons. When not captain it was 9-1.

When captain they lost a very close GF in 2018 - Pendles had an average finals series and a poor GF. No coaches votes in any of their 4 x finals.

Lost a very close PF in 2019 to GWS when they were missing half their team … Pendles had a shocker with just 18 touches. He hadn’t been below 20 in any game that season. Got 5 x coaches votes in QF, so a very good first final before the GWS debacle.

In 2020 he had 18 touches in EF and just 14 in bad loss to Geelong. Those 2 x finals were the 2 x lowest possession games of the season for him, so below average. No coaches votes.

In 2022 he played 3 very good finals with 11 x coaches votes across those finals. Unfortunately couldn’t help get his team over the line in a close final for the third time in 4 years.

In his 11 finals as captain they were 5-6. He didn’t kick a goal in any finals as captain. In the best players in 4 of 11 finals - not once voted in best 3 on the ground.

Then he relinquished the captaincy in 2022, and they won the flag under a different skipper in 2023.

So Pendles had longevity as a skipper. He played some terrific H&A footy and a few good finals.

But no flags. Poor performances in many big finals. Missed finals more than they made it. Won 53% of games as skipper compared to 68% when not. They won a flag 3-years before he started as captain and a year after he ended.

And the off-field stuff wasn’t his fault, but hardly reads well during his time in charge with multiple drug offences, DeGoey dramas, Racism issues with Lumumba and so on ….

So I’m not sure what credentials Pendles has as captain to have him anywhere near the top-10, let alone top-5??

Reputation has him there, just not sure the facts do.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Pretty hard to refute any of that.

 

[bradfisher14]

Pendles is an interesting one. Not sure his captaincy resume matches the reputation. He was a terrific player and a model citizen, but there’s some decent holes in his resume:

At the Pies from 2006-2024.

Pies made finals from 2006-2013. Pendles took over captaincy in 2014 - they missed finals 4 years in a row.

As captain Pies made finals 4 seasons and missed 5 seasons. When not captain it was 9-1.

When captain they lost a very close GF in 2018 - Pendles had an average finals series and a poor GF. No coaches votes in any of their 4 x finals.

Lost a very close PF in 2019 to GWS when they were missing half their team … Pendles had a shocker with just 18 touches. He hadn’t been below 20 in any game that season. Got 5 x coaches votes in QF, so a very good first final before the GWS debacle.

In 2020 he had 18 touches in EF and just 14 in bad loss to Geelong. Those 2 x finals were the 2 x lowest possession games of the season for him, so below average. No coaches votes.

In 2022 he played 3 very good finals with 11 x coaches votes across those finals. Unfortunately couldn’t help get his team over the line in a close final for the third time in 4 years.

In his 11 finals as captain they were 5-6. He didn’t kick a goal in any finals as captain. In the best players in 4 of 11 finals - not once voted in best 3 on the ground.

Then he relinquished the captaincy in 2022, and they won the flag under a different skipper in 2023.

So Pendles had longevity as a skipper. He played some terrific H&A footy and a few good finals.

But no flags. Poor performances in many big finals. Missed finals more than they made it. Won 53% of games as skipper compared to 68% when not. They won a flag 3-years before he started as captain and a year after he ended.

And the off-field stuff wasn’t his fault, but hardly reads well during his time in charge with multiple drug offences, DeGoey dramas, Racism issues with Lumumba and so on ….

So I’m not sure what credentials Pendles has as captain to have him anywhere near the top-10, let alone top-5??

Reputation has him there, just not sure the facts do.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Absolutely spot on.

Pendlebury gets a ridiculous amount of PR just because he plays for Collingwood.

 

[GWT6]

Pendles is an interesting one. Not sure his captaincy resume matches the reputation. He was a terrific player and a model citizen, but there’s some decent holes in his resume:

At the Pies from 2006-2024.

Pies made finals from 2006-2013. Pendles took over captaincy in 2014 - they missed finals 4 years in a row.

As captain Pies made finals 4 seasons and missed 5 seasons. When not captain it was 9-1.

When captain they lost a very close GF in 2018 - Pendles had an average finals series and a poor GF. No coaches votes in any of their 4 x finals.

Lost a very close PF in 2019 to GWS when they were missing half their team … Pendles had a shocker with just 18 touches. He hadn’t been below 20 in any game that season. Got 5 x coaches votes in QF, so a very good first final before the GWS debacle.

In 2020 he had 18 touches in EF and just 14 in bad loss to Geelong. Those 2 x finals were the 2 x lowest possession games of the season for him, so below average. No coaches votes.

In 2022 he played 3 very good finals with 11 x coaches votes across those finals. Unfortunately couldn’t help get his team over the line in a close final for the third time in 4 years.

In his 11 finals as captain they were 5-6. He didn’t kick a goal in any finals as captain. In the best players in 4 of 11 finals - not once voted in best 3 on the ground.

Then he relinquished the captaincy in 2022, and they won the flag under a different skipper in 2023.

So Pendles had longevity as a skipper. He played some terrific H&A footy and a few good finals.

But no flags. Poor performances in many big finals. Missed finals more than they made it. Won 53% of games as skipper compared to 68% when not. They won a flag 3-years before he started as captain and a year after he ended.

And the off-field stuff wasn’t his fault, but hardly reads well during his time in charge with multiple drug offences, DeGoey dramas, Racism issues with Lumumba and so on ….

So I’m not sure what credentials Pendles has as captain to have him anywhere near the top-10, let alone top-5??

Reputation has him there, just not sure the facts do.


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I've heard he could have been top ten Boomers captain.

 

[Xtreme]

I've heard he could have been top ten Boomers captain.

If he was born years earlier, he'd have helped the Chicago Bulls get a 9-peat!!!

 

[Fadge]

If he was born years earlier, he'd have helped the Chicago Bulls get a 9-peat!!!

Though not THAT much earlier...

 

[PenfoldsFan]

All of those Port Captains are solid. And yes even Casissi. Always had respect for him as he is a Fremantle fella.

Dom Casissi was unlucky he Captained Port when they were struggling.

Tredrea, Wayne Carey, Barry Hall, Jono Brown, Pavlich , Taylor Walker and Nick Riewoldt are all Tall forwards that were captains of their clubs

Not saying they're not solid, just not who I consider top 10 in the period outlined.

Theres probably lots of Captains that are solid in different peoples eyes for various reasons, but you cant put them all in or it might as well simply be a list of Captains post 2000.

 

[name change]

Who are the worst captains?

 

[Fadge]

Who are the worst captains?

Best: Wayne Carey
Worst: Wayne Carey

 

[Xtreme]

Who are the worst captains?

Gary Ablett Junior

The most selfish captain in VFA/VFL/AFL history

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Gary Ablett Junior

The most selfish captain in VFA/VFL/AFL history

Luke McDonald would have to be up there

 

[STPer18]

Who are the worst captains?

DJ Stratts.

 

[G String]

Nah, it's fair. Cat supporters will naturally agree and Tiger supporters will make a good case for the reverse, but that's just our love for our respective man. I would see a lot of neutrals leaning towards Joel over Trent and can fully appreciate that stance.

Cotch was very young when he got the gig and took quite a while to grow into the role, whereas Selwood seemed like a more readymade leader and enjoyed success a lot earlier in his career. That enabled him to set a realistic bar for his teammates which included unconditional commitment and subsequent September pay-off.

Both men were uber tough and fearless to the point of repeatedly jeopardising their own self-preservation on the field. Both garnered massive respect from their troops for their onfield exploits.

I've read the Cotchin autobiography but not the Selwood one, so I probably have a much greater insight into what makes Trent such a magnificent leader within his club, but I'm sure there's also many nuances to Selwood's captaincy role off the field that I'm not aware of.

One thing's for sure, simply being compared to Joel Selwood as a captain and leader of men and being in that conversation should be of the greatest compliments to any other captain, Hodge and Cotchin being two of them.

That said, I'm more than content seeing Michael Voss at number 1. He is unsurpassed in my lifetime. He's the Clive Lloyd of AFL footy to me.

Its a great debate - I am biased but I would argue Cotch as one of the great captains (if not best ever) just because he came to the club when they were a rabble and he left it as a triple premiership captain. He along with Gale completely transformed the club and created a winning culture from a very low base. Much the same could be said of Voss but Selwood (and maybe Hodge?) was lucky enough to walk into a club with good leaders and an existing winning culture.