Who Has Been Our Best Captain?

[The Doctor]

I've been following the Dogs since the early 70's so In my view it goes;

1. Scott Wynd
2. Laurie Sandilands
3. Jim Edmond

I often think we make emotional choices for the captaincy, ie Johnson, Hawkins, Grant, Griffen all were great players, but were they captains? Would they have been captains, or considered for captaincy had they played for premiership clubs in their era?

[westdog54]

Of the captains I've seen Scott Wynd was far and away the best leader.

[GVGjr]

Hard to go past the Doc's recommendations but I wonder how good Dougie was as captain. It's hard to look past his easy going persona but I have a feeling he might have been a better captain than I give him credit for.

[Hotdog60]

I was around when Jennings had the gig, but over that time I would lean on Chris Grant. He lead by example on the ground and from what you hear he was the loyal club man off.
Then you hear stories Of Johnno pulling someone aside in the locker rooms and tell then to tow the line. He also lead on field although he had a habit of loosing his feet a lot in the later stages of his career.
Scotty Wynd also had what it took on field.
My top 3 in life time would be:
1 Grant
2 Wynd
3 Johnson

[always right]

Wynd from Sandilands from Grant for me.


Wynd led from the front, protected his teammates and took a battering for his team by filling holes in front of the likes of Plugger. He was also a master at centre bounces.

Some on this board may not have seen much of Sandilands but I lost count of the number of matches he dragged us over the line in...he was inspirational.

Grant had the talent and presence...and set the example off field as well.

Johnno didn't quite make it even though I thought he was a very good captain. In his latter years I believe his tendency to dive for free kicks told against him.

[1eyedog]

Rick Kennedy for mine similar to Wynd in that he put his body on the line for the team. He played in a time when doing the rough stuff was considered tough and team orientated rather than stupid and undisciplined. We were tougher and stood taller with Tits out there.

Second goes to Wynd for much the same reason as above.

Third best goes to Boyd. For all his deficiencies he was a great captain who also led by example on the ground and on the training track. he set the highest standards and expected everyone to follow them and that is the mark of a very good leader.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Ted Whitten was a great captain because he had such a huge presence on field and we've all heard the tenor of his inspirational speeches, which I think are actually a much lower tone than the inspiration of his play. His play was dramatic: maginficent marks, fast thinking play a la Doug Hawkins, outwitting opponents, fast hands flickpassing, long torpedo goals and telling play at important moments. Of course he also protected his team with his physical presence and his lip, directed variously at teammates, opponents and especially to umpires.

[Maddog37]

Wynd

Then daylight

[LostDoggy]

I liked Wynd but I pretty young then.

I love Johnno, I always enjoyed and had a lot of pride for his interviews on TV. Lead by example as well.

[bornadog]

I really liked Jimmy Edmond, I thought he was a great captain in his time. It was a shame he was another Captain to have left the club.

[bulldogtragic]

Wynd - Stood in front of Lockett and others every week, could lift us always.
Johnson - Ruthless captain internally, didn't take a backward step every time Aker opened his mouth and didn't tolerate idiots like Boumann. Seriously good player.
Bobby - Hasnt done anything wrong. Literally. Bleeds red, white and blue.

[Jeanette54]

[QUOTE=The Doctor;422729]I've been following the Dogs since the early 70's so In my view it goes;

1. Scott Wynd
2. Laurie Sandilands
3. Jim Edmond

QUOTE]

Three great choices Doctor. The only one I would rate above these three is Ted Whitten, he had all that they had, plus that indefinable presence.

FWIW The best Captains game I have ever seen was Scott Wynd's effort in that awful Semi-final loss to Geelong, some years back. Shame he didn't have a few more mates on the day. Scott's continued attempts to lift his failing team by his own sheer effort left me in awe of him. Laurie Sandilands was cut from the same cloth.

[Remi Moses]

Rick Kennedy for me . Lead from the front ( even with that elephant man growth on his thigh) tempered his aggression ( well sometimes)
Scott Wynd - played beaten up for most of his career. Stood in the hole often ( remember him blocking Dunstall often ) second efforts superb
Brad Johnson - great leader . His efforts were exemplorary ( gets points for his DFA speech)

[The bulldog tragician]

Obviously most of us never saw Sutton but as our premiership captain who was apparently a real enforcer on the field (didn't he instruct the boys to leave the tough stuff to him on That Glorious Day), he'd have to be top 3.

I often feel people underrate Jonno. After last years miserable events where a Certain Somebody tore the heart out of our club, we shouldn't overlook the impact of Brad's great pride and commitment to the club - there was never even a whisper of looking elsewhere, never rumours linking him to other clubs. He also gave our club a profile with his media friendly style and set a culture we could be proud of. I think it's also forgotten because of his durability that he played through pain - I used to live in Willi and sometimes saw him ( and surprisingly enough, sometimes Rohan Smith) around a day or two after a game and Brad could barely walk but rarely missed a game.

Wynd, Kennedy were very good skippers, Wallis another whose courage on the field led the way. Chris Grant was an example of someone not naturally suited to the profile who still took it on and contributed to a sense of pride in the club that I think we got from a very good senior core in the last decade. But I guess another player most of us never saw, EJ, would be my choice in our top 3.

What a pity Murf has only got the gig so late, but I'm looking forward to seeing him lead us out. You know he will revere it as the honour it is.

[Scraggers]

Ricky Kennedy
Jimmy Edmonds
Scott's Wynd

All influential on the field and off. Broke my heart when Jim went to Sydney

[craigsahibee]

Big Scotty Wynd for me. A leader in the true sense of the word. Saw him in the rooms one day before a game at Optus Oval doing his warm up and he had a bruise on his thigh that would have run from his hip to his knee. Like others have said, constantly put himself in the hole in front of some big forwards. Never forget the day at OO when he was knocked out and convulsing on the ground. Scary stuff. Barry Standfield took over in the ruck and probably played his best game for the club that day.

Agree with the comments regarding Matthew Boyd also. Was able to play some really good footy in his time as captain.

[LostDoggy]

1st Wynd, Great leader and best tap ruckman of my time.
2nd Kennedy, Tough and had a follow me attitude.
3rd Boyd/Grant for their great attitude and showing the professional attitude required for AFL.

[Bulldog4life]

EJ by a country mile. Captain of the Club from 1957-1970.Was captain/coach in our 1961 Grand Final appearance. Was captain of the 1996 AFL Team of the Century. As well as the best player the Club has ever had he was an aggressive enforcer too always looking after the youngsters in the team. Stories about Ted are legendary.

[Maddog37]

Bob is well on the way to healing our club after what can only be considered a traumatic period IMHO. His stocks rise daily.

[ratsmac]

When I read the title of this thread the First name that came to my mind was Scott Wynd. He was a captains captain. A real warrior that constantly would take an impact for a team mate.

1. Wynd
2. Johnson (all Australian captain 2006)
3. Grant

[LostDoggy]

Bob Murphy

[Twodogs]

Wynd.those really good teams between 97 and 2000 didn't win if Scot Wynd didn't play. We could win without Grant or West or Johnson but we couldn't win without Wynd performing the 100 different, vital acts he did eachh week. He played in a lot pain each week because Hed lost a lot of the cartridge in his knees and was running pretty much bone on bone. He was a true captain.