HE WAS thrown into the deep end as the Hawks captain for the majority of season 2012, but midfielder Jordan Lewis didn’t let the weight of expectation slow him down.

Renowned for his ferocious attack on the man and the ball, Lewis admitted being handed the captaincy for most of last season helped with his performances on the field.

He labelled 2012 as arguably his “most consistent” year, and his coaches agreed, handing him the Most Consistent award on Peter Crimmins Medal night in October.

The midfielder finished sixth in the Club’s best and fairest after being one of the Club’s most reliable players with the ability to be cast in a variety of roles.

Lewis revealed having the extra responsibility of being the Club’s captain for 13 of 27 matches last season arguably made him a better player.

“I suppose this was my most consistent season so you may say that it did make me a better player, maybe that extra responsibility helped me play and drove me to play really well and consistently for the whole year,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“There were certain other elements that probably went into that as well but definitely maybe being the captain and trying to lead from the front helped.”

The modest 26 year old says he enjoyed the challenge of leading the Hawks, but believes the credit should lie with the Club’s leadership group, ably led by Captain Luke Hodge despite playing just 10 matches.

“I really enjoyed it to be honest, from afar it probably looked like I did a bit more than I actually did, he said.

“Hodgey was very much behind the scenes and although it would have been frustrating for him at the time, he was very good, very supportive.

“We’ve got a really good leadership group at the moment so it wasn’t only me doing the leadership stuff on field, the leadership support around me was first class as well.”

The experience enabled him to assess, improve and build on his leadership credentials, something Lewis believes is important and hopes to build on in 2013.

“I think every day you’ve got to check in with yourself and make sure you’re doing everything right and if you address someone in the right way and how their learning technique is different to mine,” he said.

“You put yourself out there and you’re probably marked harsher than if you stay quiet in the corner but that comes with the position.

“You’ve got to be a strong willed person to take that on and I feel I did okay with that last year.”

Lewis jokes though that despite its benefits last season, he hopes he won’t have to fill the captaincy role too often in 2013 – happy to hand the reigns back to Hodge.

“Hodgey not only is a great player, he’s a great leader and he leads by his actions,” he said.

“I’ll be very happy if I remain second fiddle to him throughout the season.”

Leadership the key to Lewis’s most consistent year