With leadership change looming at some clubs and long-term planning underway at others, we forecast who's next in line to captain each club in 2026 or beyond.
Some clubs have laid a solid leadership foundation as they enter, or remain in, the premiership window, while others will look to re-shuffle their leadership as they prepare to build their next premiership team.
Carlton
Sam Walsh
Current captain Patrick Cripps has done an admirable job leading Carlton. A two-time Brownlow medallist and four-time All-Australian, Cripps has done it all individually. However, with Carlton's poor on-field performance in 2025 and Cripps set to turn 31 in 2026, the club may opt for a fresh face to lead the club in the next few years.
Sam Walsh appears to be Cripps' successor. A highly touted leader throughout his junior football career, Walsh has been a member of Carlton's leadership group for the last six years. He was first included in their leadership group in 2020 aged just 19.
Walsh, now 25, looks primed to take on more responsibility in the coming years. He has endured an ordinary run with injury across the past 12 months after taking the competition by storm in his first four years. You get the feeling Walsh may explode in 2026 with a full pre-season and is the type of player who will thrive with added leadership responsibility.
