Is Kane still able?
By Garry Lyon
Former Melbourne star
March 25, 2008
IT WILL be very hard for Kane Johnson to continue to captain the Richmond Football Club.
Not totally unworkable, but very difficult. And I'm looking at that, not through the eyes of the club, the sponsors, the fans or the media, but through the eyes of Johnson himself.
The role of captain is to lead his players. It is an honour that carries with it responsibilities and expectations, and by extension, extra scrutiny. It is not a role suited to every player, nor is it always for the best player in any team.
The captaincy is given to the best leader and to do the role effectively you need to be satisfied, in your own mind, that you are worthy of the position.
The toughest times I encountered as captain were through periods of injury or poor form. If you were performing poorly, or not at all, it was very difficult to demand of the players the standards that were required.
If your team was struggling and you weren't contributing, the natural inclination was to retreat into yourself. To do otherwise was to feel like a fraud.
It conjured images of "do as I say, not what I do", which is counter to what all strong leaders subscribe to.
And that is what Johnson would be wrestling with at the moment. At least with poor form or injury, you could continue to do everything in your power to turn it around.
That is the message you hopefully send to your players as you work your backside off in a game or work to do everything in your power to get an injury right to enable you to do what is expected at the weekend.
I admire Johnson's approach to football and, anecdotally, I believe the players have great respect for him.
But how much does this incident compromise that respect and how compromised will Johnson feel when he has to stand up in front of his group, look his players in the eye and say, "Follow me".
Only Johnson can answer that. The fact he has no history of trouble with the Tigers works in his favour.
The players may rally and back him, but it will require great trust from all involved. That is one thing that he needs to win back in a hurry.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23427395-23211,00.html