Geelong veteran Patrick Dangerfield has lodged his candidacy to succeed returned teammate and Cats champion Joel Selwood as the captain of Kardinia Park.
Selwood's reign as skipper of the Cats came to and in a fitting fashion as the local superstar lifted the premiership cup last September for the fourth time with Geelong and the first as the club's captain.
His record spell of 245 games as captain leaves big shoes to fill at the Cattery from this season, however a number of worthy names are set to be in the running for the top job.
Dangerfield and star defender Tom Stewart deputised Selwood last season as co-vice-captains, with Stewart expressing his desire to go a step above within Chris Scott's leadership group following the end of their successful 2022 campaign.
Dangerfield is now the latest senior Cat to put his hand up to replace Selwood, with the 32-year-old stating he'd be "one of five" leading candidates in the mix.
โWe've got so many different players, to be honest, that could fill that void that's left by Joel,โ he said, viaย News Corp.ย
โWe're in a really fortunate position that we have a really strong leadership group. (I'm) probably one of five that could very, very easily assume that role.
"It's probably not something we'll pay too much attention to until the end of January or start of February, which is sort of in line with every season.โ
Other options the Cats may consider are midfielder Mitch Duncan and All-Australian Mark Blicavs, who both turn 32 this year.
Stewart will also surpass 30 prior to his side's season opener against Collingwood in mid-March, but age isn't an issue for the club's thinking says Dangerfield.
โI think this decision for us will be about best person for the job for (this) year,โ Dangerfield said.
โIt's not really looking any further beyond that. It's to give us the best chance of winning the Grand Final in season 2023. I get the notion behind longer-term appointments but we also want to win now.
โWhen we get to that stage we'll make that call and the coaches will make that call in conjunction with the players and our board.โ
Geelong have not disclosed a likely timeframe for their formal announcement of who will captain the club in 2023.
They're not alone either in needing to find a new skipper, with Collingwood and Hawthorn also searching for replacements for Scott Pendlebury and Ben McEvoy respectively.
Pendlebury announced he would step down from his post last month, ending a club-record 206-game run as captain of the Magpies.
Defender Darcy Moore firms as the favourite to replace Pendlebury, while Hawks gub James Sicily is seen likely to succeed McEvoy at Bunjil Bagora.
