MELBOURNE celebrated the announcement of its new skipper Max Gawn on Monday afternoon, but with that came some disappointment for Jack Viney.

The 25-year-old, who has co-captained the club with Nathan Jones since 2017, will instead be vice-captain for the upcoming season.

While it was a difficult shift for Viney, coach Simon Goodwin can’t fault his commitment to the red and blue.

“He’s all in,” Goodwin said.

“He wants this club to be the best club it can be, he wants to support Max in the best way he can.

“And there’ll be people out there that’ll say, “Is he all in?”

“If you ask that question, you don’t know Jack Viney.

“He’s never been more passionate about this footy club.”

The midfielder has played 119 games for the Dees since being drafted in 2012, and Goodwin said his reaction to the captaincy news was only natural.

“He was disappointed, as you would hope so,” Goodwin said.

“He’s a very passionate man, Jack, and he takes his leadership very seriously.

“It’s a great honour to be a captain of a footy club, but you don’t know Jack Viney if you don’t understand where he comes from.

“There’s one thing since the moment he walked through these doors - it’s to make this club great and be a part of something really special.

“His leadership won’t change. The way he plays won’t change and my conversations with him have been really simple.”

While Melbourne’s decision to go with a sole captain in 2020 appears like a demotion for Viney, Goodwin emphasised the importance of his role.

“There were two standout guys in the leadership stuff,” he said.

“There was Max, and there was Jack.

“Jack wants to be the best leader he can be.

“We need to find a way where he can be even more effective in his style and the way he goes about it.”

Watch as Max Gawn and Simon Goodwin fronted the media below.