Top 5: The best AFL captains since 2000

Who are the best AFL captains of the 21st century?

With 25 years of footy played since 2000, there’s been plenty of great leaders at just about every club.

Narrowing the best of the lot down to a top five, SEN Breakfast duo Sam Edmund and Cameron Mooney picked their top handful of skippers since the turn of the millennium.

The duo picked their fives in order, with No. 1 their top selection.

Edmund’s top 5

5 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)

“Scott Pendlebury is at five. There were flags on either side of his captaincy tenure at Collingwood, but he deserved to be a premiership captain,” Edmund said.

“He was a dual AFLPA Best Captain. He’s an amazing leader as we know, I don’t need to bang on about it but it’s his on and off the field longevity, consistency and performance.

“He’s been a soothing and calming influence on the field, a conductor, if you like.

“When you go back through it, he helped Collingwood, not rebuild, but reset twice and contend during his tenure.”

4 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)

“Four is Joel Selwood. He’s captained the most games with 245.

“He was the 2022 premiership captain, he’s a six-time All-Australian and four of them came while he was Geelong captain. In three of those he was actually named All-Australian captain.”

3 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond)

“The reason I've got Cotchin at 3 is like the man I've got at 1, he drove a culture reset at his club and drove standards.

“He reinvented himself as a player first and a leader along the way, and I reckon without him, you even wonder what actually happens at Punt Rd to some degree.

“Nine years as captain, three premierships as captain, but so much done behind the scenes to rebuild a club and a culture first. I think he has a massive role in that.

“There were board coups and challenges, and he was the captain the whole way through.

“Without him, I’m not sure what happens. He’s the centrepiece.”

2 – Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)

“At two, I've got Luke Hodge. Three-straight flags as captain, 2 Norm Smiths, an AFLPA Best Captain along the way, he’s a big game player like Joel Selwood.

“He was a tough as old boots leader.”

1 – Michael Voss

“At number one I've got Michael Voss.

“He began his captaincy outside of the year 2000 in 1997, but he drove and lifted standards at Brisbane.

“He created a winning culture when they weren't contending.

“Three flags in a row, four Grand Finals in a row. I don't need to bang on about his capabilities as a player and a leader on field, but I've given extra weighting to the guys whose clubs have been down and out then in premiership calculations.”

Mooney’s top 5

5 – Patrick Cripps (Carlton)

“I have them virtually everyone the same, bar one,” Mooney said.

“I'm changing Pendlebury out and I'm putting in Patrick Cripps in at five.

“That man as a young captain literally had to carry a football club for a decade on his shoulders. He had bandages on every shoulder, every knee, every hamstring, every toe, every finger.

“I know he hasn't had the success. But when you talk about someone that leads your club… Patty Cripps is what you epitomise a captain to be.”

4 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond)

3 – Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)

2 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)

1 – Michael Voss