Strong leadership group takes heat off captain

Photo: Paul Rovere AS A leader of a football team as a leader in any groupfor that matter you are always learning and always beingchallenged. The best advice I received after being given thecaptaincy at Essendon for season 06 was from Adam Simpson, thenKangaroos captain, while sitting on a boat on the Yarra Riverbefore the annual AFL captains' day photoshoot. Adam effectively said to me that we had been given our rolesbased on our football ability and character, so nothing shouldchange in terms of the way we prepared and went about our football.Good advice and he was right, but my first season was stilldaunting. You are the face of your club. Your behaviours are seenas reflective of the group. Pressure comes with that. Being put into the role doesn't mean you won't make mistakes right now nobody would know that better than Adam givenrecent events but ultimately you need to be who you are andconsistently be true to the values you hold most important. You dogrow in the role, particularly as you become more confident in yourability to take people with you. By the word's very definition, youaren't leading if people aren't following and the biggest challengeis in taking the team perspective previously, you can focuscompletely on your role and doing your job. Advertisement: Story continues below I was very insular earlier in my career. If I'd had a bad firsthalf of football, I would go and hide in a toilet cubicle athalf-time for the five minutes that players had to themselves.While James Hird was barking instructions at the team, I wasanguishing over my performance, wondering Rosetta Stone what had to happen toturn it around. Conversely, if I had kicked five goals, I wouldwalk off the ground pleased that the job had been done. The resultwas secondary in some ways. Two weeks ago, I went goalless for the second week running, butwe beat Fremantle and I could not have been happier walking off theground. It was fantastic. As captain, your perspective does, and must,change. It is about them and not you. I met withNathan Buckley and Luke Darcy while I was out injured in my firstyear as captain as both had spent long periods of time out of thegame. They talked about the importance of body language as a leaderof a group and that is advice that has stuck with me eversince. Leading is also not about being liked, but about beingrespected. There are occasions when you have to confront teammates even coaches with some brutal facts. It isn'tpersonal, it is about getting better. I spoke to Kevin Sheedy a few seasons ago when I had the viewthere were players on our list who were holding us back as a group.We were fading out late in games and I felt it was because someplayers weren't preparing themselves as well as they should formatches. Basically, some players were fatiguing and turning theball over because of lifestyle choices.

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