CHRIS Judd isn’t over the line, but he’s still in the running to captain Carlton after the Blues unveiled their new six-man leadership team for 2008.
Judd, Andrew Carazzo, Brendan Fevola, Heath Scotland, Kade Simpson and Nick Stevens were named in the Blues’ leadership group on Wednesday morning, with the club likely to decide on their skipper sometime during their NAB Cup campaign.
Judd’s name was no surprise among the leadership group, although whether the former West Coast captain wants to skipper his new club remains unclear.
Carazzo, last year’s club champion, has been rewarded for his outstanding 2007 while enigmatic forward Fevola will also be part of the senior group.
The new leadership group was nominated for by players, with each voting on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis.
While most outside the club would suspect the captaincy will come down to one of three players – Judd, the returning Stevens and Simpson, who impressed last season upon taking over the role from Lance Whitnall.
Carlton coach Brett Ratten believes each member of the leadership group has what it takes to perform the top job.
“I think they’ve all got great qualities that says they could lead the Carlton Football Club in 2008, so I want to give every player the opportunity to show their stuff,” Ratten said after the Blues trained at Princes Park on Wednesday morning.
“Our leadership group’s got a real good spread of experience and different positions and things like that, so yeah [I'm] really happy.”
Ratten confirmed he was more of a “traditionalist” when it came to the captaincy and, while not ruling out co-captaincy, one skipper looks a preferred option at the Blues.
“As we go through all the practice matches and all the games that we have, each individual player [in the leadership group] will get to lead the team,” Ratten said.
“Even if it’s only for half a game, and then someone else will step in, so we’ll get to see their qualities in action.”
Carlton leaves for South Africa on Friday where they will play an exhibition match against Fremantle at Super Sport Park in Pretoria.
The trip is seen by officials as a terrific bonding experience for their young side as well as an opportunity for the potential leaders to further showcase their skills.
However Ratten believes the club’s captain – which will be chosen by the Carlton match committee – will best be able to demonstrate his leadership skills during the club’s pre-season campaign.
The leadership group has been whittled down from 10 in 2007 – a number Ratten believed was too many.
“From my point of view it was,” he said.
“I think it’s good to get the group smaller and [they] can have a bigger say in where we’re heading as a group.”
