For the first time in Carlton's history, the Blues will have co-captains lead them out during the 2019 season.
Midfielder Patrick Cripps and defender Sam Docherty have been given the nod, as the pair take over from Marc Murphy, who has held the title for the past six seasons.
The announcement was made at the Blues' best and fairest night on Friday, where Cripps won his second John Nicholls medal.
Cripps, 23, and Docherty, 24, will become the 48th and 49th Carlton captains, and both players couldn't be more honoured to lead the side.
“It’s a big club with such a rich history, with some legends who have been captains of the Club themselves and we’re lucky enough to now join our names to that list of leaders, which is an incredible privilege,” Docherty told carltonfc.com.au.
“Clearly the joint captaincy is a new direction for the Club, but both ‘Crippa’ and I have sat down and had really honest chats about how we’re going to take this group forward together. Despite our various differences in personality and approaches to leadership, we complement each other well and the main thing for us is our common goal to take this club back to sustained success.
“We will be also aided by the wealth of knowledge ‘Murph’ has – he’s been our leader in some pretty tough times for our footy club and this year again led so strongly on game day and during the week, so he’ll be someone we bounce ideas off and use as a resource throughout the year which we will be indebted to him for.
“I want to thank the football club for this immense opportunity. We’re ready for the challenge and ready to lead this club back to where it should be.”
Docherty missed the entire 2018 campaign after rupturing his ACL on the first day of pre-season training late last year.
Cripps starred in the Blues' two-win season, and was named an All-Australian while also finishing fourth in the Brownlow Medal.
“This honour is incredibly special. Playing footy at the highest level for one of the biggest clubs in the competition is huge in itself, but when you think about being named captain of the Club, it’s probably something you could never really dream of. It’s surreal but a huge honour,” Cripps told the club's website.
“I try and lead by my actions, and I really believe that leadership is something you can’t master, but you always try to improve. So the biggest lesson I learnt this year in that stand-in role was to lead by being true to yourself.
“When I was standing in for Murph earlier this year as captain, he was fantastic in that he reminded me to just stay true to yourself. He’s been such a mentor for us and been great with advice. Next year, he will continue to have a strong leadership presence within the group and he will be someone both ‘Doc’ and I continue to use as a mentor and confidant.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to lead this proud club alongside Doc. Personally, we are close mates, and we have a lot of respect for each other so I’m confident it will be a natural transition for us both.”
