ISAAC Smith is interested to see who takes over as skipper at Geelong to replace legend Joel Selwood, but backs in the teams depth to fill the void the premiership captain will leave.
The Norm Smith Medallist spoke after a pre-season training session as the Cats continue the early stages of their journey towards back-to-back premierships.
It’s well known now the journey will be made without Selwood and while some recruits picked up in the off-season will help step up in the midfield, Smith admits Joel’s leadership will be hard to replace.
“It’s obviously a huge loss when you lose someone like that in the football club,” he said.
“I think everyone in the footy world saw the love externally for Joel, and you could probably times that by 10 for the love that people inside these walls had.
“It will be a big loss, but we’re lucky that we’ve got the depth to cover where Joel played.
“It’ll be an interesting watch to see if we can fill the void of the influence he had not just on the team, but the whole football department.”
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The 34-year-old’s preparing for his third season in the hoops after crossing from arch-rivals Hawthorn, saying he’s been impressed with how the team has grown in the space of a few months since Smith got his fourth premiership medal.
“I think it was pretty highlighted what the club did in the off-season trade period, getting Tanner Bruhn and Jack Bowes in, (but) we’ve also got some young players underneath that are working (hard).
“I think we’re very confident in how that’s progressing and the players that we’re rolling through there.”
The Cats are yet to settle on a captain for the 2023 campaign, with Paddy Dangerfield recently putting his hand up to say he’d be willing to take on the role, while names like Tom Stewart and Mark Blicavs have been thrown around as potential replacements for Selwood.
It will be the first time since 2012 that Geelong will have a new leader at the club.
Twitter: @krockfootball
