New Richmond co-captain Dylan Grimes has revealed the advice Damien Hardwick gave him when taking on the leadership.
Grimes and Toby Nankervis were on Monday confirmed as the Tigers’ first ever co-captains, replacing the outgoing Trent Cotchin, a triple-premiership leader.
Cotchin was renowned for changing the culture in the Tigers with his empathetic captaincy style that was a driving force behind the club’s 2017 drought-breaking premiership.
His successor paid tribute to Cotchin, stating he’d love to continue on his former’s legacy.
However, Grimes also suggested Hardwick gave him contrary advice to back himself in.
“What ‘Nank’ (Nankervis) and I are really going to bring is ourselves,” Grimes told Sportsday.
“We’ve both come from different backgrounds, 'Nank' originally at Sydney and me being at Richmond my whole career has meant we’ve kind of learned to be ourselves and that was the advice that 'Dimma' (Hardwick) gave us.
“(He said) absolutely embrace this challenge and do it your way, don’t try and be Trent or anyone else.
“I’m not entirely sure what is going to be the first cab off the rank for us personally, but all I know is we’re going to attack it with both hands and really go our best at it.”
Grimes has played 192 games for the Yellow and Black since being drafted in 2009, playing a key role in the club’s recent success.
He debuted under Chris Newman, who led the club until Cotchin took over in 2012, and has seen the Tigers at both the best and worst of times.
The 30-year-old says he’s been able to absorb a range of skills in his time at Tigerland and is clear on what his biggest job is at the club.
“I think my personal role, how I see it at the moment is to support the coach's message as best as I can and bring the voice of the playing group back to him,” Grimes continued.
“We’re so blessed with the coaches we have, that's evident to me that my number one role really is to provide challenge and support at the right time, to players and coaches.
“I think leadership has changed a lot for us, really over Trent’s tenure, I must admit before that it was what you imagine old school footy captains to be like, driving standards, that kind of autocratic style and then you’ve got guys like Trent, who were about vulnerability and acceptance and empathy and things like that, which were words that were rarely mentioned around a footy club.
“I think there’s definitely a range of skills at different times, I’m just going to try and bring my best to each moment and see how things pan out.”
The tough defender also commented on teammate Sydney Stack, who has come under fire from Kane Cornes for performing a dangerous jump over the weekend.
Stack has faced a myriad of issues over the last two years and would want to ensure he can put his best foot forward in 2022, but Grimes – who runs a winery in his spare time - has no problems with his players trying to escape the footy bubble.
“I’ve really found that (winery) to be one of the best things of my playing career is to have a balanced life outside of it,” he said.
“I personally think it’s great for players to get away from footy completely and pursue some of these recreational things that completely take your mind away from the pressure of the game and the relentless nature of elite sport.
“Personally, I thought that it was great to see that him and Tom Lynch were down there and enjoying themselves.”
Grimes and Nankervis will face their test of captaincy when the Tigers play Geelong in a pre-season match on February 26.