JACK Grimes has backed his former co-captain partner Jack Trengove to come back “bigger and better than ever” from a serious foot injury.

Trengove, who relinquished the co-captaincy at the end of last season, was fully endorsed by Grimes to return in 2015 with renewed confidence in his game. 

“He’ll have a full pre-season going into next year as well – it was just a bit unfortunate with the timing of it (the injury). Mentally, he’s still going pretty well with it,” the third-year skipper told Dee TV. 

“Now he can work on a lot of things in his rehab and a lot of specific areas that he wants to work on. He’s already looking a lot bigger in the upper body, just from all of the training he’s doing at the moment.”

Grimes reflected that Trengove was relishing the opportunity of not having the captaincy attached to his name at the start of the season.

“I really felt over the pre-season, [when] he was running around, he was a lot freer in the mind. It did seem like a bit of a weight had been lifted off his shoulders,” he said.

“He was performing really, really well over the pre-season and was back to his real bubbly self and really enjoying his footy. Nothing changed from his leadership perspective – he’s still the same leader … but without the title attached to it.

“Unfortunately, he did hit a bit of rough form earlier in the year and he was struggling a little bit with his consistency. I thought it was, personally, a really good thing for him to go back to Casey.

“We were all expecting him to go back there and play a few games and really get some form back and enjoy his footy, and then to come back in and have that impact at AFL level.

“Unfortunately, the timing of his injury didn’t help him … I know he wouldn’t have liked to have finished at Casey [for the season].”

Grimes said first-year co-captain Nathan Jones had been “awesome” in his new role this year.

“I’ve really learned a lot from him and I just really, really admire the way he goes about his footy and the way he trains, and the example he sets to the rest of the group,” he said.

“Jonesy’s working on some specific areas as well that I feel he’s improved so far, just over this short time he’s been in the co-captain position. A lot of the off-field stuff, he’s come so far with that and it really is a pleasure to work alongside him.

“I’ve been very privileged to be in the same position as him, but we feel like we do help each other a lot through a lot of things and we do talk about different issues … but we get so much other help from the other leaders.”

The addition of Daniel Cross, Chris Dawes and Lynden Dunn to the leadership group had been “super”, following the retirement of Mitch Clark and the season-ending injury to Jack Trengove, according to Grimes.

“They provide so much those guys – being really experienced players,” he said.

“Even when they weren’t in the leadership group, they would still chime in and help out a lot and they’d rotate through the leadership group meetings and they were providing a lot for us.

“The way those three guys have been going about their footy on field – they’ve probably been three of the most consistent players for us this season. We know exactly what we’re going to get from those guys.”

Grimes, in his third season as a co-captain, said he had learned a lot this year.

“It’s going well. There has been a fair few changes under Roosy and a lot of new coaching staff. I’ve worked closely with Jonesy this year and I’m really, really enjoying it,” he said.

“Early in the year, especially as leaders, we’ve learned and developed a lot and got a lot of help from the new coaches and it’s been really good. It’s good to see some of the results coming on field and to feel like we’re progressing as well.

“I feel like the group we’ve got together has made some strides forward and we’re really maturing as a group.”

Although Grimes has played every match this season – after an injury-interrupted 2013 – he said he wasn’t quite pleased with his form so far in 2014.  

“Personally, I’ve been a little bit up and down this year – a bit more than what I would’ve liked. I’ve played at half-back – like I was a couple of years ago – and I’m really enjoying the role,” he said.

“I’ve played a couple of different roles, with a bit of tagging here and there, so I’ve really enjoyed playing that and the challenges … and getting the flexibility into my game.

“I’ve been a little bit frustrated with the fluctuations of form at times. At times I feel like I’ve been performing well and at other times – not so well. But overall, I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been feeling physically – the body’s good.

“Overall, it hasn’t been a bad start to the season, but I’d definitely like to build that consistency moving into the second half [of the year].”

Grimes also praised backline coach Jade Rawlings and the team’s increased pressure for an improved defence this season.

“It’s made our job so much easier and we’re not defending nearly the same number of inside 50s against us and the quality of ball coming towards us is nowhere near as high as what it was.”

And as for Grimes’ brilliant spoil late in the game against Adelaide superstar Patrick Dangerfield at Adelaide Oval in round seven, Grimes played down his outstanding piece of play. 

“There was a bit of talk about the one against Adelaide, but I didn’t think about it too much. It’s just what we’re taught to do and I think anyone else in the same position would’ve tried to do the exact same thing,” he said.