NEW Western Bulldogs captain Easton Wood says the opportunity to play stand-in skipper during their breakthrough premiership campaign was the ideal preparation for taking on the gig full-time.
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The Camperdown export was announced as the Bulldogs’ leader on Monday, replacing retiring great Bob Murphy.
Wood, 28, guided the Bulldogs to a flag 62 years in the making in 2016 when Murphy was sidelined with injury.
Murphy returned to the Dogs’ helm before announcing his retirement at the end of last season.
“He’s gone now so it will be on my shoulders. It’s is exciting to have that challenge and opportunity to keep growing,” Wood told westernbulldogs.com.au.
“One of the best lessons I learned way back when Bob went down the first time, I felt overwhelmed because it felt like you were out on your own. The realisation is that you never do it on your own, you can’t do it on your own. Good leaders utilise the people around them and empower the people around them.”
The All-Australian defender said being genuine was an integral part of leadership.
“I think you’ve got to be really responsible fo being the guiding presence of the group,” Wood said.
“I think from my experience at the club so far in seeing guys do the position well they’ve always got their finger on the pulse of how the group are feeling and can adjust things during the week or adjust messaging.”
Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
