ADELAIDE forward Patrick Dangerfield says midfield teammate Scott Thompson has emerged as a strong contender to take over from retired club captain Simon Goodwin.
Dangerfield, 20, believes the Crows could name their new skipper just before Christmas after the players make their annual vote on the leadership group.
He says Thompson - who wasn't in this year's group of Goodwin, Nathan van Berlo, Ben Rutten, Scott Stevens, Michael Doughty, Brad Symes, Brett Burton and Tyson Edwards - has what it takes for the main role.
"There's three that to me have shown great leadership throughout this year when Simon wasn't playing. Rutten and van Berlo have been well publicised but someone who's less publicised is Scott," he told afl.com.au from Dublin, where Australia will face Ireland in Saturday's second International Rules Test.
"He's an outstanding game day leader for us and he would be a very good captain if he was voted by the players.
"He's very capable of it with the way he goes about his preparation. The influence he has over the team on game day is huge and he'll be looking to step up his leadership next year."
Whoever is selected is sure to be younger than Goodwin, who was 32 when he was named captain. Previous skipper Mark Ricciuto took on the job at 26 but held it until he was 32.
"The young age will be a good thing," Dangerfield said.
"Because the demographic of the group has changed so much it will be good to have a young captain, as there will be less of an age difference between the leaders and players."
The Crows' 2010 campaign got off to a poor start with up to 12 players nursing injuries through the pre-season.
Dangerfield, who suffered a minor medial ligament strain but got through largely unscathed, said his club's preparations should be different this time around.
"We've sat down as a club and spoken about where we're at as players and where the coaches are at and how they see things unfolding," he said.
"We're still going to train very hard but the duration won't be quite as high. It will be a higher intensity but for less time.
"One thing we do pride ourselves on is we never back off with our training and that's what gives us a competitive advantage. But at the same time, we'll taper off a bit this year and find a medium between the two."
He also said dramatic changes to the list with the retirement of Goodwin, Edwards, Burton, Andrew McLeod and Trent Hentschel, as well as Nathan Bock's defection to Gold Coast, meant players had no choice but to fill those voids.
"I don't think it will be detrimental to our players and the way we play next year. I think we'll be a better side if we can get our injuries and player management right," he said.
"I think we'll challenge for the finals again for sure."
