Luke Hodge’s top 5 captains of the 2024 AFL season

Former Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge has ranked his top 5 captains of the 2024 season, including who he believes should be this year’s All-Australian captain.

The Hawks premiership skipper has rated what each captain produced and how they led their club over the course of the campaign.

Hodge ranked his top 5 at the halfway stage of the season which was Fremantle’s Alex Pearce at 5, Melbourne’s Max Gawn at 4, Western Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli at 3, Carlton’s Patrick Cripps at 2 and Essendon’s Zach Merrett at 1.

See his end-of-season ranking below, in ascending order from 5 to 1:

5 - Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)

“I’ve snuck in the Port Adelaide skipper,” Hodge said on SEN’s Whateley.

“Six or seven weeks ago things weren’t looking smooth for Port Adelaide and even the fans were turning on the coach. They were in all sorts.

“You never heard a rumbling coming out of it. They were always a stable playing group, they always rode the line and that’s the influence of the skipper.

“Normally you hear murmurs that not everyone is happy when things aren’t going their way, but Port Adelaide kept tight and I’ve got to put that down to Rozee and the leadership of he and Zak Butters.

“I thought the culture of that group has been pretty sound.”

4 - James Sicily (Hawthorn)

“I saw signs early that he was going to struggle with how they were going. His temper, his discipline on-field did seem to wane (when they were losing).

“Yes, it’s always easier when you’re playing good football and winning, but I thought his leadership really stood up over the last 15-16 games.

“‘Sis’ isn’t a show pony, he doesn’t like doing all the celebrations, but he’s accepted that because it’s probably similar to Sam Mitchell. He knows that sometimes you’ve got to bend the rules a little bit to get the best out of your teammates.

“His teammates are up-and-coming young guns who love having a good time. I thought Sis has changed for the team’s benefit and he’s going with the flow. It has showed his maturity.”

3 - Patrick Cripps (Carlton)

“I’ve gone with Patrick Cripps at three.

“Carlton supporters, don’t boo me as I’m booing myself right now that he’s not two or one.

“Cripps has been exceptional. He has done a lot, his team struggled at times and they’ve dropped away, but his form has stayed sound.

“He is unfairly sitting third. It’s a lot harder this year than last year.”

2 - Harris Andrews & Lachie Neale (Brisbane)

“They didn’t rate in the top 5 last year.

“Their backs were against the wall. You look at Round 11 and they had 4.5 wins. I thought they weren’t making finals.

“The bye came around, Chris Fagan changed a few things. How steady they were on the ground as players but off the field as well.

“Every time they spoke it was in a calm manner which made me think that all the players understood that they were still in this. If it weren’t for the loss to GWS by two points and Collingwood by one point then they’d be sitting second.

“I though they did a great job at steadying the ship and steering it in the right direction for a sixth finals appearance in a row.”

1 - Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)

“My All-Australian captain is ‘Bont’.

“We all now how dominant he was as a midfielder but when the forward line was down he would push forward and kick goals. He needed to play that role because of the injuries they had up forward. He’s kicked over 30 goals this year.

“I could hear all arguments out there for why other skippers weren’t at number one, but for me, I’ve got Bont there at one.”

Gerard Whateley also ranked his top 5 captains:

5 - James Sicily (Hawthorn)
4 - Zach Merrett (Essendon)
3 - Harris Andrews & Lachie Neale (Brisbane)
2 - Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
1 - Patrick Cripps (Carlton)

“Total splitting of hairs for which you go there. I’ve full admiration for both but I did land with Cripps as the All-Australian captain,” said Whateley.