Scott Pendlebury will captain Collingwood for a ninth straight season in 2022 – but who are the club’s next batch of leaders?
Taylor Adams – one of three vice-captains at the Magpies – has been touted as Pendlebury’s natural successor, while fellow deputy Steele Sidebottom is entering the twilight years of his career.
Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell has named the players who he believes to be the next leaders underneath Adams and Sidebottom within the Pies’ ranks.
Maxwell says Darcy Moore – who was elevated to Collingwood’s leadership group last year – Brayden Maynard, Jack Crisp and Jamie Elliott are all blessed with leadership qualities.
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“Scotty’s done it for nine years now, I was five before that and then we had Scotty Burns just for one. So it just sort of depends on where we get to by the end of the year and what it looks like from a team perspective,” the former Magpies defender told SEN Mornings.
“Darcy (Moore) is out of contract and there’s some other guys who are out of contract who have leadership capabilities.
“I guess that middle tier coming through who are younger than the (Taylor) Adams and (Steele) Sidebottom types is Darcy Moore, (Brayden) Maynard continues to step up, (Jack) Crisp is another one who has been very good.
“Probably the one that is a bit quieter that people don’t understand how good of a leader he is but around the club he’s highly respected is Jamie Elliott.
“It’s just whether or not you want someone to come in as a stopgap for a year or two or whether you really want to invest in someone coming through.”
Pendlebury is Collingwood’s longest-serving captain having the led the club 183 times across his decorated 334-game career.
The 34-year-old signed a two-year contract extension last October.