Trengove relinquishes captaincy
Jack Trengove has announced his intentions not to pursue the Melbourne captaincy in 2014
Trengove was named the youngest ever VFL/AFL Club captain in February 2012 and held the co-captaincy position with Jack Grimes for two seasons.
The 22-year-old said captaining Melbourne was an amazing honour, but has decided to concentrate his efforts on fulfilling his potential as a player.
“After a lot of thought and continual talks with Roosy, I have decided that I will not put my hand up for captaincy this year,” Trengove said.
“The main focus going forward is obviously showing improvement as a team and getting success for the Melbourne Football Club.
“The best way that I can individually contribute to this is fulfilling my potential as a player. At 22 years of age and entering my fifth year in the game, it is important that I start making big inroads.
“The life lessons and experiences that I have seen over the last two years have been invaluable. There is no doubt they will make me a better player long term.”
Trengove said that while he won’t have the captaincy position next year, it won’t his alter his actions around the Club.
“I won’t change the way I go about things at all within the Club, but will obviously just not have the title that I have had in the past. The best thing I can do for the Club right now is to fulfill my potential and get others to follow suit with me,” he said.
“If leadership opportunities present themselves in the future, I will consider them then.
“For now, I am really excited about getting stuck into another big pre-season with Roosy and the other assistants in charge. We are building a great list that I feel will begin to show improvements.
“Roosy has been great so far and has some great ideas about where we are going to improve as a team and individually. I can’t wait to work closely and learn from him and the midfield coaches George Stone and Ben Mathews.”
Trengove, who was selected at No.2 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, has played 79 AFL matches since he made his AFL debut against Hawthorn at the MCG in round one, 2010.
A NAB AFL Rising Star nominee in 2010, he represented Australia against Ireland in the 2011 International Rules Series.
He has averaged almost 20 matches per matches in his four AFL seasons. His ability to play 20 games in 2013 was somewhat underrated, given his pre-season was interrupted with a foot stress fracture.