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Opinion
The 2022-23 AFL offseason has been unique on the captaincy front. So far, seven of the 18 AFL clubs have made changes to their captaincy position.
Typically club captaincy is a long-term position, meaning that these roles infrequently change hands. However, due to a range of retirements and other reasons, several new captains have already been announced for the upcoming season.
Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury handed the position over to Darcy Moore. Ben McEvoy’s retirement paved the way for James Sicily to be announced as Hawthorn’s new captain. Jack Ziebell’s six-year captaincy tenure at the Kangaroos has been succeeded by the co-captaincy of Jy Simpkin and Luke McDonald. Away from the eastern seaboard, Alex Pearce has replaced Nathan Fyfe as Fremantle’s captain, while Jordan Dawson has replaced Rory Sloane as captain of the Adelaide Crows. Toby Greene has been announced as the sole Giants captain after sharing the position with Stephen Coniglio and Josh Kelly in 2022.
Another club requiring a new captain was the Geelong Football Club. Geelong’s captaincy position was left vacant after the club’s longest serving captain, Joel Selwood, retired post a premiership in 2022.
The abundance of experience on Geelong’s 2023 playing list meant Selwood’s successor was not a simple choice. While their 2022 leadership group only officially comprises three members – Selwood (captain), Patrick Dangerfield (vice-captain) and Tom Stewart (vice-captain) – there are a handful of other players who are more than capable of leadership positions (Tom Hawkins, Mark Blicavs, Mitch Duncan and Tom Atkins, to name a few).
(Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Over the weekend, the Cats announced that Dangerfield would take over the captaincy in 2023, while Stewart would remain as vice-captain.
From the outside it seemed that the 2023 vacancy would be filled by either Dangerfield or Stewart. Both options were low risk due to their local upbringing, All-Australian playing qualities and squeaky-clean off-field records. The key difference was the stages of the careers that the individuals were at.
Dangerfield, at 33 this year, has begun to feel the effects of injury and of a career spent as a battering ram. This has led to a significant reduction in playing time and impact over the last two seasons. Dangerfield played 35 of a possible 50 games (70 per cent) in the last two seasons, recording six Brownlow votes in each of the last two campaigns. The Cats have also shifted Dangerfield from a bustling inside midfielder to an explosive forward who spends more time around goals as his career reaches its twilight.
Conversely, Tom Stewart is a man at the peak of his footballing powers. Turning 30 this year, Stewart is defined as one of the top three defenders in the AFL. He’s been selected in the last two All-Australian teams. He has played 40 of a possible 50 games (80 per cent) in the last two seasons and polled an impressive eight Brownlow votes in 2021 and nine Brownlow votes in 2022.
Dangerfield’s election as captain seems inconsistent with trends that other clubs have demonstrated this off-season. Of the five other clubs with brand-new 2023 captains, all have replaced an older, seasoned captain with a younger, fresher replacement (Collingwood, Hawthorn, Kangaroos, Fremantle and Adelaide). These changes will allow these clubs to retain one player as captain for a longer period, leading to greater stability while also giving a new captain enough time to make his mark on a team.
While there’s no question that Dangerfield is a brilliant leader, his reign will likely be short-lived due to his age and eventual retirement in the medium term.
Would the Cats have been better positioned with a long-term captaincy replacement? Would a dual captaincy with Dangerfield and Stewart have worked? Or does Geelong’s unique captaincy transition suit the reigning premiers perfectly as they head into season 2023?
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