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After nine season as the captain of the Fremantle Dockers, Matthew Pavlich has stepped aside from the role heading into 2016.
The 34-year-old, who has played a record 335 games for the club, said it was the right time for a new leader to take on the role.
“First and foremost, it’s the right time for the football club – the right time for me to step aside and allow a new player or players the opportunity to lead,” said Pavlich.
“I have absolutely loved the honour and privilege of captaining Fremantle for the past nine years. Leading the boys out onto the field was always a highlight of my week.
“After considering my playing future last year and the ever increasing responsibilities I have as a father, finalising my university studies and my role as president of the AFL Players’ Association, it is just the right time for both the club and myself.
“As an AFL player you must commit entirely to the cause and that’s magnified even further as a captain. Both mentally and physically it takes its toll and, given where my body is at, I also need to be focused on getting the best out of myself to ensure that my on field play continues to benefit the team.”
Pavlich will finish his time as Fremantle captain having led the team into 189 matches – the most of any Fremantle captain in history, and the sixth most of any VFL/AFL captain in history.
Pavlich said he would still be willing to be a part of Fremantle’s leadership group in 2016 to help ease the transition to a new captain, if it was asked of him. But who might that new captain be?
Nat Fyfe
Fyfe has widely been regarded as the next big thing at Fremantle for much of his career and now that he is the reigning Brownlow Medallist it could fairly be said that he is the current big thing.
But does that equate to being the Dockers’ next captain? Fyfe was in Fremantle’s 2015 leadership group, but it was also just his first season in that role.
Fyfe certainly feels like someone who could be a captain of Fremantle one day, but whether or not that day is in 2016 remains to be seen.
David Mundy
Mundy has been part of Fremantle’s leadership group for a number of years now and if the Dockers want to go with a safe, experienced leader then he is the obvious choice.
In 2015 Mundy elevated himself to the level of consistent elite performance that should be required of a club captain. He had the best year of his career by far and was named All-Australian.
Mundy himself is already 30, but could be a great option to hold the captaincy for a couple of years while Fyfe gains more leadership experience.
Michael Walters
Walters might seem like a bit of a left-field possibility but Ross Lyon has indicated his belief in the small forward’s leadership potential on a number of occasions.
Walters’ transformation over the past few seasons – from being demoted to training in the WAFL because of lack of fitness, to becoming one of the AFL’s premier small forwards – has won him a lot of respect from coach Ross Lyon.
In September this year, Lyon said “It’s just so gratifying to see someone who has worked incredibly hard to have grown so much to the point where he could captain our football club.”
Who do you should be the next captain of the Fremantle Dockers? Let us know in the comments.