I had someone message me earlier in the season, complaining that Liam Duggan was the worst captain in the game, at the time.
It was a message steeped in frustration, as the Eagles defender had just made a couple of critical turnovers in the game we were obviously both watching. The West Coast supporter on the other end of the messages was pretty fed up with his team losing, and was venting. Sure, I am not really inspired by the way Duggan plays his footy, but as we prepare to exit the 2025 season, all of a sudden, Duggan looks anything but the worst of the AFL captains.
What has happened to this position, once revered as the ultimate honour at any club?
The situation surrounding Zach Merrett and Essendon has been appalling. From both sides, just for the record. With the Bombers and Merrett playing a weird game through the various media outlets, the relationship appears damaged beyond repair. As much as the Bombers state that Merrett is contracted and will not be traded, anyone with half a brain (and I just squeeze into that demographic) knows that it is little more than posturing by Essendon. They are simply attempting to score the best deal possible for their want away leader by pretending they genuinely want him to stay.
But Merrett is just one part of the leadership exodus at AFL clubs.
Oscar Allen decided early on that he was out on West Coast. The club may have also decided that they were out on Allen, as well, offering him what is believed to be a low-ball contract, given his ongoing knee issues, and concentrating on what type of compensation they could receive for letting him walk. Allen, seeing the writing on the wall, met with Hawthorn to explore options.
And Eagles fans rightly lost their damn minds!
Here was their skipper, or co-skipper, as the case may be, entertaining the possibility of moving clubs in the middle of the season?
Who made him captain???
Oh yeah… the club did. Just last year, too. Nice call.
But wait… there’s more!
Jack Steele is apparently on the move, as well.
In this one, I feel for the player, as I don’t think this is a situation he is initiating. With the influx of talent at Moorabbin, and the progression of those under him in the middle, has made him close to redundant as a midfielder.
He’ll find a new home, but he’ll leave as skipper, and that is never the best way to transition to a new face at the top.
And then we have Jy Simpkin, who we’re told is exploring options, as well, because he is no longer being gifted as many midfield minutes as he believes he should be.
Maybe if he worked on his disposal a little more, and played games for the club with the same intensity and care he did when he lined up for the Indigenous All-Stars, the club wouldn’t have so many going past him, but I digress…
That’s four captains. Four clubs, who have hitched their respective wagons to these players and elevated them to leadership positions, and are now faced with the very real likelihood, and in some cases, the absolute certainty, that their captains will be out the door.
What does it say about the teams that they’d have someone in such a coveted, and important place within their structure one minute, and out the door, the next? What process did they undertake to offer players the chance to lead their clubs?
Is the office of captain is a shell of what it once was?
Or, is this just an anomaly?
Looking back, how many captains have departed in similar circumstances? I’ll only go back as far as my memory stretches, and even then, I am bound to miss a few.
- Gary Dempsey (my favourite-ever ruckman) was captain of the Dogs in 1978, and was with North Melbourne in 1979.
- Alex Jesaulenko captained Carlton to a flag in 1979, only to have a falling out with the board (and they’ve continued to cock things up for 45 years) and headed to St Kilda.
- Peter Moore was captain of the Magpies in 1982, but was wearing red and blue the following year. I have never seen such a level of hatred toward a player on game day as I saw as a kid at the Collingwood-Melbourne game in ‘83.
- Mark Williams was captain of Collingwood in 1986, but headed out the door to become a foundation player, at the then Brisbane Bears.
- Paul Roos was captain of Fitzroy in 1994, but in 1995, he was playing for the Swans as the Lions fell into a hole they’d never climb out of.
- Doug Hawkins was captain of the Doggies in 1994, but as of the start of 1995, he was playing for Fitzroy.
- Leigh Colbert was captain of Geelong in 1999 but failed to play a game due to injury. He up and left, heading to North Melbourne, for the 2000 season.
- Chris Judd was the leader of West Coast in 2007 when he decided he’d had enough and wanted to head back to Victoria. Unluckily for him, he landed at Carlton.
- Ryan Griffen was the captain at Whitten Oval in 2014, but when the GWS Giants came a-knocking, he was out of there like spit through a trumpet.
- Then, we had both Tom Lynch and Steven May leaving the Gold Coast Suns at the same time, after being co-captains in 2018… those wild and crazy Gold Coast boys…
- And perhaps the biggest of all time saw Ron Barassi, after leading the Dees to the 1964 flag, jump ship to Carlton.
So, not unprecedented, by any means, however, four in a year seems a little… too many?
Clubs at the top of the tree look very stable – the four teams remaining have great on-field leaders.
Andrews and Neale at Brisbane.
Sicily at Hawthorn.
Dangerfield at Geelong.
And Moore at Collingwood.
That said, even Lachie Neale’s name came up in recent trade discussion. Whether there is any merit to it, I am not sure, but even in the strongest house, a loose brick or two can cause things to tumble down pretty quickly.
I don’t blame supporters of clubs for being upset that their leaders are looking to get out and head elsewhere, but in a footy landscape that is looking more and more like a very US-style, “me-first” type of competition, I’m afraid we might have to get used to it.
From the outside looking in, the appointment of captain is important to me at the club I support. I want the best person for the job, and one who is as committed to the club as they are to him.
Of course, when that commitment doesn’t go both ways, it far too often ends up the player painted as the bad guy. To me, there are no real black and whites in this area – just shades of grey.
And with Allen, Merrett, Simpkin, and Steele all likely to find themselves elsewhere in 2026, things have never been as grey as they are, right now.
Maybe Liam Duggan isn’t so bad a captain, after all?
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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