FORMER Melbourne co-captain Jack Trengove admits he feels "free" and "relieved" after relinquishing the Demons' captaincy.
Trengove will miss the remainder of 2014 with a cracked navicular bone in his left foot after giving up his position as skipper at the end of last season.
Appointed as the youngest ever VFL/AFL captain at 20 in 2012, the midfielder said his decision to step down had allowed him to focus on football.
"In the pre-season I was feeling free of any pressures or anything like that, I just got back to enjoying footy," Trengove told Channel Nine’s The Footy Show.
"There was an element of pressure being relieved. I had a long think about it over the off-season about where I was at as a player and where I wanted to go.
"So much has been harped on about the leadership side of things the last few years and I wasn’t even playing the best footy I was capable of playing, that was the real focus going into this year.
"I felt the best thing for me as an individual and the team going forward was to get the best out of myself as a footballer."
The 22-year-old had season-ending surgery last week and is expecting a 16-week rehabilitation period before returning to training.
Despite carrying self-doubts prior to the injury being revealed, Trengove is confident he can return to full fitness in 2015.
"While there’s plenty of frustration and you want to be out there playing with the boys battling away each week, there is an element of relief there to know there is something wrong," he said.
"I can go away and get on top of it to make sure it’s not an issue going forward.
"It was doing my head in to an extent. I couldn't do the things and move the way I wanted to I had previously.
"I was wondering 'what’s wrong with me, am I actually losing it' (and) ‘is there something wrong with me’?
"Confidence is a huge thing and that’s something we've lacked over the last few years not being too successful on the field.
"There was an element of self-doubt that was creeping into my mind which is something you never want to go into."
