COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse is in no hurry to name a successor to departing captain Scott Burns, who he says has been an inspiration to the club's younger players during his one-year stint as skipper.

Burns, who believes the club has many players with leadership potential, was not named as Nathan Buckley's replacement until March of this year after the completion of the pre-season campaign, and another lengthy selection process looms.

"As usual, we will be cautious and weigh up all the options; we'll fill the hole like the club's done over the last 100-odd years," Malthouse said at the Lexus Centre on Monday.

"No player is bigger than the football club, and you take that on board. As Scott has said, we've got some young players coming through and older players who are still playing at the football club, so we've got a list [of candidates] that we're quite comfortable with.

"Scott will be missed until the first bounce, and then we get on with it because my philosophy has always been that players on the ground are the ones that are going to win, and the ones that aren't, they can't."

Burns admitted he would have liked to have had another year in the job if his body had allowed it, but felt he had left the club in a good position in terms of its on-field leadership.

"I think that it's a pretty good transition period from 'Bucks', who was such a big figure, to me to blend in for 12 months before the next person takes over," Burns said.

"I think the strength of our group is that collectively we have got some very strong leadership here. I think that was shown in that interstate final in Adelaide when myself, Shane Wakelin and Anthony Rocca weren't playing. To be four goals down just before half-time and win by five goals; I think the club's in a pretty good position.

"I don't know if [a particular player] stands out [to me], but I think that's because I rate them all pretty highly. I really don't know what direction the club will go in. I'm guessing if it goes on past years, we'll do the pre-season and assess things then."

Josh Fraser, Nick Maxwell, Scott Pendlebury and Tarkyn Lockyer were all considered to be in with a shot at the top job before Burns was appointed at the start of the season, with Fraser impressing late in the year when deputising for the injured skipper.