Tales of a Leader: Flags boost up Saints skipper's confidence

The two-time Koroit premiership skipper believes he is a more confident leader having emerged victorious on the final game of the season and lifting the trophy and flag on two occasions.

"It gives you a lot more confidence when you are captaining a premiership side and going into the next year," the 30-year-old midfielder said.

"You feel good about yourself and know you can do it and it helps when driving the other guys going through the following year,.

"It also means a hell of a lot to captain a premiership side from the club you grew up at. I'm pretty proud to say I am a premiership captain of my home club."

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The four-time premiership player, who is juggling work with spending time with his nine-month-old daughter Chili, said his time as a leader had not been without its learning curves.

Dealing with defeat was one of the biggest lessons for Harrington as the Saints' successfully marched to their fifth and sixth consecutive premierships.

"It's more when things are not going right and instead of just having a sook about it I go and actually talk to younger guys and get around the group," he said.

"I make sure everyone is OK and get around everyone and just keep them all up and about.

"We can't win every week and we are not going to win every game so you have got to have a bit of leniency around winning and losing."

Harrington, who took over from premiership captain and Maskell Medallist Isaac Templeton, is thankful for the support he has had around him in an experienced Saints outfit.

"Guys like Tim Martin, Jeremy Hausler, Liam Hoy, Tim McPherson and Dallas Mooney. I could go on and on as there is a few more but they are probably the main guys who really help me," he said.

"I also had the likes of Damian O'Connor, who I talked to him a lot, and some older heads like Ben Goodall when he was playing and didn't have leadership role but he was there and I still learnt lot from them.

"They are all there when you need to have a chat to someone or to go to when everything is not going quite right. I have a chat to them and bounce different ideas of them all. It is good to have them to lean on."

Harrington said senior coach Chris McLaren had also been a key pillar for him and the whole side.

"He has been regularly checking in with me and the group about different things and he gets a lot of feedback from us," he said.

"He is always a good person to feed off and being a recently retired player he knows where we are coming from.

"He knows what to do when we are doing well and what to do when we are not doing so well.

"He is a good leader to have around as he sets the example and everyone follows."

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