RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace says the decision to appoint Chris Newman as captain came with the widespread backing of his teammates and other people within the club.

Newman was named Kane Johnson's successor on Wednesday and, in recent Richmond tradition, was presented with the No. 17 guernsey worn by club legend Jack Dyer.

He takes the reins of a relatively young leadership group, including deputy Nathan Foley, best-and-fairest winner Brett Deledio and emerging defender Kelvin Moore.

"It represents a changing of the guard at Richmond, with all four members of the leadership group aged 26 or younger," Wallace said. "It was a whole club process.

"Certainly the playing group got a vote on who they believed should be leading them into the future, but so did the football division, the management and the board of the footy club."

Wallace added that Newman proved in recent seasons that he had the qualities to skipper the Tigers.

Newman hasn't missed a game in two years – since a return from a broken leg sustained in round 13, 2006 – and his career tally sits at 133.

"We just think that Chris sets the example of how we want the game to be played," Wallace said.

"He's hard-nosed, he has a strong approach, he will always put his head over the ball.

"When there are pressure times in games you can always rely on Chris doing the right thing."

Newman accepts the captaincy with the hope of steering Richmond to September after another near miss in 2008 – finishing ninth.

The last time the Tigers made the finals was 2001 – the year before Newman made his debut.