Dawes puts his hand up to lead Dees
Dawes puts his hand up to lead Dees
The 2010 Collingwood premiership player said it was an ambition of his to guide the Demons.
“In terms of my own leadership aspirations, I want to lead this club, but title or not, that’s not going to change a great deal about how I go about things,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“I do want to be a part of it, but I think it can be trimmed down from what it was last year. There were nine of us last season.
“If it means me stepping out, I’m happy to do that as well. That said I’d like to lead this club as well.”
The Demons are going through the process of working out their leadership group for 2014 with the help of Leading Teams.
Dawes, who was a member of Melbourne’s leadership group in 2013, said the players were making good strides with the Leading Teams program.
“With Leading Teams, we’re still just working through that and learning how it works,” he said.
“All of the feedback that we’re getting back from guys is that it’s promoting that communication aspect and it’s encouraging us at becoming better at communicating.
“We’re talking about what’s relevant and because of that we’re strengthening and developing our relationships, so I think that’s the best thing Leading Teams can do for the group. We’re definitely progressing on the right track.”
Meanwhile, Dawes said coach Paul Roos had instilled belief among the players and he was looking forward to working with him closely as the year progresses.
“I’ve got a great deal of confidence in him, like everyone here, but it’s weird for me, because I haven’t had a heap of contact with him, because I’ve been away from the main group in rehab,” he said.
“But speaking to all the boys out there, they say he’s really involved in training and one of his greatest strengths is how clearly he communicates and how clear the game plan is becoming for the boys.”