Carlton coach Mick Malthouse has revealed that Marc Murphy will captain the team taking on Greater Western Sydney while Nick Duigan will lead the team out against reigning premier Sydney, in the Blues’ NAB cup campaign opener at Blacktown on Sunday.
Malthouse confirmed that Murphy, the 142-game club best and fairest, would share duties with Duigan, who was only recently elevated to the leadership group, in a revealing interview for CFC TV.
“Our captain (against the Swans) will be Nick Duigan,” said Malthouse of the 38-game former Norwood player.
“Nick has earned that right by being on the leadership group. We’ve got great faith in him, he has the real hallmarks of being a terrific captain and I think that the playing group will really rally around him and give the respect he’s deserved because of his on and off field leadership,” Malthouse said.
“Marc Murphy will captain that side (against GWS) and we’re going out there to do whatever we possibly can to win it . . . ”
With Murphy and Duigan taking the captaincy roles this weekend, Kade Simpson and Andrew Carrazzo will be delegated captaincy duties in the subsequent NAB Cup matches with Fremantle and Adelaide.
Malthouse himself resumes after a 12-month coaching hiatus, during which time he capably fulfilled his media commitments for both the Seven Network and 3AW.
Asked if he was nervous in the countdown to the resumption of his coaching career, Malthouse replied: “I haven’t had a chance to be nervous, but I’m very excited”.
“ . . . The boys are desperate to get out on that ground and have a game of football,” he said. “That’s what they train for, that’s what they love . . . and I’m very excited for them.”
Now readying for his 29th season as a VFL/AFL Senior Coach, Malthouse has also talked of the “No Limits” attitude embraced by all connected with Carlton in the lead-up to the NAB Cup.
“We take on a mantra, or a mindset of improvement. That’s right throughout the football club, particularly the football department,” he said.
“We know what happened last year, we know how hard it is to win premierships and we know how hard it is to make the eight . . . history shows the eight changes every year, we want to be part of that and the only way we can be part of that is to have a real positive attitude, have general improvement across the board and have a mantra if you like, or our DNA based on this, that there are no limits.”
Malthouse has also supported Carlton President Stephen Kernahan’s call for a 50,000-strong membership base to secure a greater allocation of home matches at the MCG beyond 2014.
Follow Tony De Bolfo on Twitter: @CFC_DeBolfo
