Last year he stepped out of the shadow of the man who he was destined to play his career with, Tom Scully, and finished fifth in the best and fairest and represented Australia in the International Rules Series. This year, and particularly on Wednesday morning under bright sunshine at Casey Fields, that shadow was nowhere to be seen.
Trengove, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2009 AFL Draft, is confident the team can cover the departure of the former No. 1 draft pick. He says although Scully was obviously a great player, his departure won't affect the Demons' future prospects.
"The sign of a bad list is if you lose one player you fall over," said Trengove. "I reckon we've got a great list and blokes who can fill his spot and with the two compensation picks (the club received two picks as compensation for losing Scully) in a few years I'm sure we'll be able to pick up where we left off."
One thing you can bet Trengove, who has played 37 games in his first two seasons, won't miss is being constantly asked to comment on Scully's future as though they were joined at the hip, even though he says it wasn't a big issue for him.
"It wasn't something that really affected me personally because I didn't have to make the decision. It might have affected him a bit mentally off the field because every paper you open or every TV you turn on it's always on there so it would have been hard for him, but me personally and the rest of the boys didn't have any issues with it," said Trengove.
Professionals know such decisions are inevitable in the industry as are the questions relating to a talented teammate. Trengove used the words "a little frustrating and annoying" when pressed further about being constantly asked the Scully question, but you sensed it was boredom more than anything else that led to such emotion.
He joked he began to just roll out the standard responses. "It's just the field we're in. You get asked the hard questions," said Trengove.
In the end Scully made his decision and whatever his teammates had said or thought became irrelevant. "It was a big decision that he had to make and the thing he chose is what he did and we have all moved on and [are] ready to go next year," said Trengove.
Trengove is a quality performer on and off the field. He reckons if you strive to become captain then you might be focusing on the wrong thing, despite the coach keeping the captaincy question open. He'll play wherever the coach asks him but is planning to play midfield.
They're the responses of a natural leader.
Trengove has packed plenty into two years and admits the end of last year was frustrating and a sad way for Dean Bailey's coaching career to end.
But it was far from a wasted time: "All players go through those moments and you move on and learn a lot from them as well," said Trengove.
