As far back as his junior days - he captained Northern Knights in the TAC Cup and was an under-18 Vic Metro vice-captain - Grimes has been a leader.
Coming through his draft year in 2007, club recruiters would often speak about Grimes’ exceptional leadership ability. The common theme from recruiters back then was that ‘he’ll captain an AFL club one day’.
Not surprisingly, Grimes was a member of Melbourne’s leadership group in 2011, before being elevated as co-captain this year. But he said he never pondered leading an AFL club when entering the system.
“To be honest, I didn’t think about at all - the fact that a few people leading up to the draft was saying things like that - [that I’d have] a future leadership role,” he said.
“To be honest, I didn’t believe it at all. I just never thought it would happen. I wasn’t worrying about that all - first of all wanted to get to a club, and then try to make an impression and get a game at that club. I wasn’t thinking about leadership at all.”
“It’s a great honour, and I’m absolutely rapt to be in it. But, this wasn’t the be all and end all. I didn’t say from the outset that I have to be captain one day, or that I have to be a leader one day - it just sort of happened.”
Entering 2012, Grimes had 32 matches to his name from four seasons, after injuries rocked the early stages of his career.
By the season’s end, he had finished second in Melbourne’s best and fairest behind winner Nathan Jones and had played all but one match. His form blossomed and got better as the season progressed. He was one of the genuine positives to emerge from a trying season.
But for Grimes, he said his main aim - before being appointed co-captain - was to get through the year unscathed.
“Before all the captaincy happened, my one aim was just to play the majority of games anyway, and try and get as many as I could,” he said.
“I’ve had a few problems with that in the past - with injury and to play 21 games, I’m absolutely rapt with that after a bit of an interrupted pre-season as well.
“So, I couldn’t ask for anything more. That’s been a real positive, just to spend a bit more time on the park, and get a little bit more experience under my belt.”
But the 23-year-old said felt comfortable taking on greater responsibility as a person - not just as a player.
“I feel like when there’s more pressure on me, I respond better,” he said.
“I think it naturally is the case when you’re put in a leadership role.
“You put more pressure on yourself as well as others put more pressure on you. I enjoy that challenge.”
Grimes said his initiation into captaincy, when the year started with some remarkable much-publicised stories for the club, was a tough period to endure.
“There was a fair bit going on early in the season off field, it probably did weigh me down a little bit,” he said.
“I was trying to do a bit too much, be out on the park, playing well, but looking after a few different things that I was not used to doing - it weighed me down to a certain extent.
“But, that’s when the support that I got was awesome and I felt that, especially the back end of this year, I feel like I played my most consistent footy, and I was feeling really good mentally about my role and my position.
“It probably came way down trying to achieve too much, early on especially, and trying to change the place as soon as you get there. But no, it wasn’t the case. Looking back now, I’m pretty happy with what we achieved this year, how far we’ve come as a team, and individually as well.”
Although he spoke of the “tough at times” in 2012, Grimes said he was optimistic about 2013 and beyond.
“My first year as captain - it’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride at times,” he said.
“Earlier on was reasonably tough, but not just for being captain, it was tough for everyone. Going through a fair bit off field, with all the different dramas that were happening in the first few rounds, and obviously not performing too well on field - it was tough to put those two together.
“But I think we’ll learn a lot from the experience - we’ll be a lot better because of it. But yes, it was tough - that’s footy sometimes.”
But Grimes said he gained much support from the leadership group and coaches in his first year.
“The general perception from outside the footy club from a lot of people and just generally through the media is that captains are pushed out the front a lot and are expected to go over and above more so than the other guys, which to a certain extent is the case,” he said.
“But the amount of support we get - not just Jack and I, but the six other leaders as well - the eight of us get so much support ... it doesn’t feel like it’s just Jack and I, it feels like it’s a big group of eight, and then a lot of guys outside that group of eight who are really supporting us.
“Coaches like Neil Craig, Jade Rawlings and Josh Mahoney - who are really heavily involved in the leadership side of things - have just been awesome. So, it has been tough at times to confront some different situations, but we’ve got all the support that we could ever ask for - so they’ve made the transition as easy as possible.”
