Sam Mitchell says there are several players in contention to take over the club’s captaincy in 2023.

Speaking at training on Tuesday, Mitchell said there are a few possible options to follow in former captain Ben McEvoy's steps. 

“Externally, James Sicily is the obvious one, but certainly there are a lot of players that I wouldn’t underestimate their influence on our group,” Mitchell said.

“I don’t think we’ll have a leadership vote, it won’t be as plainly as that – it will be a discussion.

“What do we stand for? What do we want to achieve? Who’s the best people to take us there?

“You don’t need to be a master of everything to be a captain of a footy club, you need to be strong in a couple of areas and know how to get other people to help you in others.”

Mitchell said a decision on the captaincy would be made following the club’s pre-season camp in Gippsland.

“We go on our pre-season camp next week where we’ll start to knuckle down on the process and the structure of what our leadership program looks like for the year,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve lost some experienced players, but the group has come together, and they just find this groove, equilibrium and energy.

“Last year we spent a lot of time energising the group and flattening that leadership to get a lot of growth from different guys and we’ve seen that continue on, and I’ve been really pleased with that.”

Mitchell said the recent draft crops have been particularly impressive so far this pre-season.

“I think all the draftees have had good moments,” Mitchell said.

“The two lads we took early in the draft – Cam Mackenzie and Josh Weddle – do not look out of place, they both are really doing good things.

“The other guys we drafted – for example Henry Hustwaite who I think was Pick 37 – he just did a couple things yesterday in our match simulation and you just think ‘there is some special talent there.’

“We’ve had a big cohort of draftees over the last two seasons, there’s been 14 or 15 in the last 18 months.

“That group are all at the front of the running, they’re hard workers, last off the track types.

“That’s created a great environment for improvement and work ethic.”

Hear more from Mitchell below.