In time, it’ll be a ripper. Here goes …
Following the appointment of Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove as co-captains, who was Melbourne’s sole captain in its first official match?
If you’re thinking Grimes, think again.
It was, in actual fact, leadership group member James Frawley.
Frawley skippered the Demons against Gold Coast in Melbourne’s first NAB Cup match of 2012.
With Jack Trengove not playing on the night, and Jack Grimes not featuring until the second match of the night against Brisbane Lions, it was Frawley who led the Demons.
Despite being an established AFL player, Frawley found it somewhat surreal running up for the coin toss at the start of the match.
“It was pretty weird going up and shaking Gary Ablett’s hand in the middle,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“My first match as captain - it’s none from one, so I’ll have that for the rest of my life - it’s not a good record,” he said with a laugh.
“But it was a good experience, and it was good for Grimer to come back in the second game.”
Reflecting on Melbourne’s three-point loss against the Suns, Frawley said it was a missed opportunity.
“Against the Gold Coast in the first game, we should’ve won to be honest,” he said.
“They scored a few goals out of the back of the zone and the back of the pack, which we probably could’ve stopped.
“It was a good hit-out under those conditions to test out the structures and everyone playing their roles.”
Although the Demons bounced back with a three-point win over the Brisbane Lions, Frawley said it was hard to back up on the same night.
“I was out on my legs in the second game because it was so wet and we were carrying around extra weight in our jumpers, shorts and socks,” he said.
“It was pretty tough in the second game, but to get 80 minutes under our belt - we’ll probably be a bit stiff for the next couple of weeks.
“But because it’s been a pretty dry summer in Melbourne, we haven’t had a lot of training sessions in the wet, so it was good practice, as we’ll always have at least one or two wet games during the year.”
And the key defender said new coach Mark Neeld was quick to make an impression with his pre-match address.
“Neeldy was really strong with a few points he wanted to make across the group, which he did really well,” Frawley said.
“All the line coaches have been really good - especially Jade [Rawlings] in the backline.
“I think the boys went pretty hard at the ball and won most of the contested footy.”
