Brisbane Lions skipper Dayne Beams will look to draw inspiration from the examples set by his former captains in order to establish himself as a well-rounded and well-respected leader at Brisbane.
Beams was appointed to the role of Captain last month after being voted by his peers and the Club's football staff to lead a seven-man leadership group. At 27, Beams believes that he is now better placed to take on leadership responsibilities than he was when he was appointed to Collingwood's leadership group in 2012.
“I’ve matured a lot since I left Collingwood,” Beams told The Herald Sun.
“You look back at it now and I learned a lot off guys like (former Collingwood captain) Nick Maxwell and Scott Pendlebury that you didn’t really know that you were learning back then.
“Until you’re out of there and mature enough to realise that you don’t really understand how good a leaders those guys were.”
Beams met with Pendlebury at the AFL’s annual captain’s day at the MCG yesterday and said Maxwell’s knowledge will be valuable.
“I still try to catch up with Nick when I come back to Melbourne — I’m still great friends with him,” he said.
“He’s been the best captain that I’ve ever played under. I’ve just tried to pick apart not only Nick, but guys like Scott and Tom Rockliff. I’ve picked bits and pieces out of their leadership styles and tried to add it to my own.
“I want to be my own leader as well as interrelating and adding things those guys have done well.”
Beams will be supported in the Lions’ leadership ranks by Rockliff, who he said has won back the respect of the playing group after a difficult 2016 season.
“He would admit himself that he wouldn’t have expected to be captain of the footy club at the end of last year. And he was right in contention to be the captain again,” Beams said.
“To have the boys think highly enough of him in that regard, he’s done an amazing amount of work over the last four or five months to earn that respect back.
“He copped a fair whack... (but) he’s been able to put his head down and work hard. I’m looking forward to Tom’s support and I’m going to lean on him over the next year. He’s definitely someone I’m going to need in my corner.”
Beams said he was adamant that setting a pass mark of wins is not on the team’s agenda.
“We’re after constant improvement and development,” he said.
“We haven’t put any markers around wins or losses, but we’re expecting to improve.”
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