All the boys and people inside the club love the way Dom plays.
He plays the life or death footy that Choco preaches and wants everyone at Port Adelaide to play. He’s one of the hardest workers and he does all the chases, tackles and one-percenters that maybe not everyone sees.
Dom also gets along really well with the group. He’s a really funny guy and he’s got time for everyone from the oldest guys right down to the new draftees. He’s just a great person to have around the club.
Dom is starting to get more confident in addressing the group. If he sees something during a game that he wasn’t happy with, he’ll definitely get up in front of the group on Monday and talk about it.
He did it this week after the Sydney game and he’s done it a few other times this year. He’s really starting to have a presence around the place.
But most of all Dom speaks through his actions, so we can follow his lead through the 100 per cent effort he puts in every week.
As a team, we would stop the ups and downs that we’re having this season if we all played with the same intensity Dom brings every week.
Over the last fortnight, Dom has really got back to his form of last year. He’s getting a lot of the ball, but more importantly he’s doing all those hard things again and trying to get others to follow.
His start to the season wasn’t great, but it takes time to adjust to a new role and like everyone he’s been up and down.
Now he’s starting to get some consistency in his game, which is great for both him and the team.
I think the club definitely made the right decision by appointing Dom as skipper.
Looking back, the captaincy would’ve been a good thing to get, but seeing all the extra things that go with it, like the meetings and off-field commitments, it’s not for everyone.
These days you can’t make a decision about captaincy based on footy alone. There are a lot of other things to consider, like interacting with supporters and sponsors, and Dom is great at all of them.
The decision has worked out pretty well for Tredders too. He’s had the pressure of the captaincy taken off his shoulders and is playing the best footy I’ve seen from him since 2004.
I spoke to him the other day at training and he said he’s like a 20-year-old again.
I always had confidence in Tredders because he’s been such a great champion, but I didn’t think he’d be able to play the quality of footy he has played in the last month.
It’s a great credit to him and how much work he’s put into his rehab.
Hopefully Dom will lead the club for four or five years, and if he does, I think Travis Boak will be the one to replace him.
Boaky is really impressive. He’s a great player and even though he’s only 20 he’s a bit of a role model for the younger boys already.
Beyond that I think Jackson Trengove, eventually, might even be able to step into that role.
Jackson’s only 19 and he hasn’t played an AFL game yet, but he goes up against Tredders at training and really gives him a hard time. He isn’t afraid to speak up and tell the older guys what he thinks either.
Jackson’s really aggressive and plays the way you want a captain to play. He needs to keep his leg right, but if I had to pick one of the younger guys I would say Jackson could one day be the captain of Port Adelaide.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.
