Richmond is delighted to announce that Dylan Grimes and Toby Nankervis have been named co-captains of the football club.
The decision was ratified by the Richmond Football Club Board over the weekend, following an extensive process led by the Club's Head of Leadership Development Shane McCurry.
Grimes and Nankervis will become the 41st and 42nd formally appointed VFL/AFL captains of the Club, and the first co-captains.
Grimes, 30, has long been one of Richmond and the competition's most reliable players. He is admired by his peers and is a two-time winner of the player voted Francis Bourke Award for best embodying Club values.
The triple premiership defender, reigning Jack Dyer Medallist and All Australian has played 192 AFL games since being initially overlooked in the 2009 AFL National Draft.
Nankervis, 27, has been outstanding since crossing to Richmond from Sydney for more opportunities ahead of the 2017 season.
The combative ruckman has played 86 of his 98 AFL matches in the Yellow and Black, featuring in three premierships.
Nankervis is a barometer for the Tigers, with his presence often helping teammates to play at their best. The 199cm Tasmanian had the most pressure acts on the ground in the 2020 Grand Final after overcoming injury concerns late in the season to help deliver a premiership for a second consecutive year.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said the pair set the highest of examples for their teammates.
"Dylan and Toby play football the way we think it should be played. They are tough, uncompromising, and team orientated," Hardwick said.
"It is fair to say we entered this decision expecting to end up with one captain, but it became clear to us after an exhaustive process that we had two fine leaders ready to represent and lead our football club.
"One thing we do value is the process itself and its wonderful to be able to recognise these two fine young men. We are incredibly excited to see them lead us in 2022."
Richmond General Manager- Football Performance, Tim Livingstone added that the selection included a multi-stage voting process that defined on-field traits, combined with character and ambassadorship in an off-field capacity.
"As a football club, we place enormously high regard on the importance of leadership. Clearly, our planning for our future leadership format has come to fruition in the last few months following Trent selflessly standing down as captain,” Livingstone said.
"We had a rigorous process, and after gaining a shared understanding of what it takes to be a leader at Richmond and seeking input from the entire football department and endorsement from the Board, we reached the exciting decision to have Toby and Dylan as our co-captains.
"Having co-captains speaks to the team’s depth of leadership and together they will serve the overall system of the Club very well, given the way that they complement each other."
Richmond will announce its full leadership group later this week.
