Melbourne looks to Green pastures
The Age
Saturday January 29, 2011
NEW Melbourne captain Brad Green was surrounded by his club's long, proud history at the MCG yesterday.Twelve gleaming premiership cups and former captains David Neitz and James McDonald formed part of the official announcement, but Green stressed his new role was all about the future.Two wooden spoons in the past three seasons was more than enough motivation, he said, to not only instil a fresh winning mentality among the entire playing list, but also to honour past captains and champions."You go through these names [of past captains] and don't want to let them down," the 29-year-old said."I'm in it for the long run, I'm here for as long as the club wants me and I'll keep striving, doing the team things and playing my role I'll keep doing it to the best of my ability."It's a long process to build a premiership side, we had to basically start again and we're on the improve."Eleven seasons into his AFL career Green has played 220 games and become the most senior player on the list with McDonald's retirement and Cameron Bruce's end-of-season move to Hawthorn.The club's best and fairest winner from last season, when he topped the goal-kicking with 55 from his 22 games, said he wanted the captaincy and already felt the responsibility on his shoulders."Ever since a few of the older guys have gone I've thought 'I'm the oldest here by three years, it's time to stand up and take this group forward'," he said.He admitted feeling "pumped and excited" when coach Dean Bailey told him about the captaincy, but looks forward to new vice-captains Aaron Davey, Jared Rivers and Brent Moloney forming a strong leadership bond. Nathan Jones, 23, and Jack Grimes, 21, join the six-man leadership group for the first time.Green was a second-round pick in the 1999 national draft and a Rising Star nominee the next year. He played 20 games in his first season, including the losing grand final against Essendon.Yesterday he said the club was "out to win every game" it plays this season."Winning games of football is what I'm looking forward to and instilling in our group that it's only the start . . . it's a new era and let's go with this great wave of emotion," he said."I'm really looking forward to round one against Sydney and leading these boys out, I can't wait for games to start."Green's stellar 2010 season came after he received a broken jaw and wrist in '09, which restricted him to 12 games. Before '09 the versatile forward/midfielder had only missed a handful of games since his debut.Bailey said it was Green's long-term consistency and fierce competitive drive that helped elevate him to the captaincy."When he crosses the white line he plays with an ability to put his body into positions that very few do," he said."He talks to players, he gives them advice that comes from the experience he's had. He's a super competitor, he'll lead by example on the field, but off-field he's also been outstanding with his advice and direction, so he ticks a lot of boxes."The Demons hauled themselves off the bottom of the ladder last season with eight wins and a draw. In Bailey's third season the club finished 12th and yesterday the coach said more improvement lies ahead."We expect to improve on last year, we expect to win more quarters and we expect our playing group to be more competitive than last year," he said."We must continue to be more competitive on a more regular basis. We'll be striving to ensure the players we prepare and put on the ground will be competitive for every minute as long as you can provide that, the result will look after itself."
© 2011 The Age
