Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui has been elevated to the club's leadership group after missing the entirety of the 2017 season.
Shannon Hurn will remain as captain of the club and experienced pair Josh Kennedy and Luke Shuey have retained their spots as vice-captains, as Andrew Gaff and Jeremy McGovern remained in leadership positions.
Naitanui is now 27 years of age and a well-respected member of the club after a breathtaking career that has been halted by injuries.
โNic has been highly regarded across all levels of the football club for a number of years,โ General Manager of Football Craig Vozzo told westcoasteagles.com.au.
โEven when he missed all of last season with a knee injury he was heavily invested in our program, supporting his teammates at every opportunity and offering insights from his own observations.
โHe is clearly a player who commands great respect, his unique style and personality will provide a point of difference and nicely complement our senior leadership group.โ
Naitanui was thrilled with the announcement and keen for a big 2018 after recovering from an ACL tear sustained late in the 2016 season.
โItโs a really exciting time and a privilege to be in there,โ Naitanui said.
โI havenโt played a lot of footy in the last 18 months, so to still be voted in by my peers to be in the leadership group is a pretty big honour.
โI think having the past year off has really improved my leadership. Obviously not being able to have an impact on the field, Iโve had to find different avenues.
"Finding some stuff off-field with some of the players has really built my leadership over the past couple of months and year in particular.โ
Eagles coach Adam Simpson was also pleased to have Naitanui officially welcomed to the leadership group, complimenting the strong group of senior players leading the club into the new season.
โWeโre really pleased to add Nic to the leadership group,โ Simpson said.
โWeโve got a pretty established group now with Gaffy and McGovern coming in in recent years. Itโs time for Nic to step up and heโs looking forward to the challenge.
โNicโs attributes to the leadership and what we want is part of his growth that heโs developed the last two or three years with his presence on-field and his stance within the community. But really itโs a player vote as well and heโs next in line.
โWe expanded the group last year when Sam Mitchell came to the club and we feel when we lose someone like Sam, and Matty Priddis, out of our group that itโs important that we continue to grow in this space and Nicโs ticking all the boxes.โ
Naitanui is in doubt for the JLT pre-season series but is eyeing a round one return against the Swans at the first AFL game at Optus Stadium.
