ONE OF the most intriguing and important questions leading up to Greater Western Sydney's debut as an AFL club is: who will be its inaugural captain?

It is vital the Giants get this right. Whoever captains GWS in 2012 will face a complex and demanding year that will test his leadership on and off the field.

From the outside, there doesn't appear to be an obvious candidate, but clearly GWS can go down one of two paths - youth or experience.

One of the Giants' three big uncontracted signings - Tom Scully, Callan Ward, and Phil Davis - will be captain if GWS goes down the youth path. All were regarded as future leaders by their original clubs.

Scully is perhaps the obvious choice. While it's doubtful the Giants promised him the position when they were chasing his signature, the dynamic left-footer does have leadership credentials, at least as a junior - in 2009, Scully captained the Vic Metro side in the under-18 national championships.

Let's remember, Scully has played just 31 games, is still only 20 and is surrounded by even more inexperience. Recently he admitted he would view leadership as a double-edged sword - something he would be learning and preaching at the same time.

"I'm only young and I'm going to be looking to our older guys for guidance, but most of the players here are new to the system and are looking to find out how to train or how to set standards,'' he said.

''I enjoy that, and I do want to be a leader. That was part of the challenge of coming up here … I do want to fast track my leadership skills."

But does Scully have the desire to become, effectively, the face of the Giants, with the captaincy undoubtedly to be a 24/7 gig?

He says he enjoys walking around the streets of Sydney with barely a second glance - "It's unbelievable to get around here and go unnoticed, that's something that I don't miss about Melbourne" - so if he is enjoying the anonymity in Sydney, does he then want to become the focus of a new franchise that will rely on marketing power as much as on-field success to win the hearts of a difficult market?

And does he need even more pressure after accepting an "offer of a lifetime" from the Giants?

Ward is different kettle of fish. His style of play does appear to be suited to the captaincy - a kind of 'follow me into battle' leadership personified by ex-Swan Brett Kirk or former Lion Michael Voss.

He has a long, long way to go to reach those heights, but Ward impressed all during his brief stint at the Western Bulldogs, with the club grooming him as a leader of the future.

Ward, a rugged inside midfielder, has a marginally lower profile than Scully, which may or may not count against him. But those in the know think Ward will develop into a fine leader - with or without an official title.

Davis has flown under the radar in the 'future GWS captain' storyline, but the Crows were gutted when they lost the emerging key defender, both for his undoubted ability on the park, but also his leadership around the club: "When you lose a player who is 20 years old who we see as a future captain of our club and a rising star, it is certainly a massive loss," Adelaide football manager Phil Harper said of Davis's move to the Giants.

One of Scully, Ward or Davis would have to be in the mix to be the Giants' first AFL captain if the club decides to go down the youth track, but what if the club decides to go for more experience, at least for the first year or two?

The Giants have snared a handful of veteran campaigners - Brisbane Lions' triple premiership star Luke Power, Port Adelaide premiership pair Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan, and ex-Melbourne captain James McDonald - to add much needed muscle and experience for the new outfit’s debut season in 2012.

All have strong leadership credentials.

Power was co-captain of the Lions in 2007-08, before Jonathan Brown assumed solo leadership duties.

Brogan was vice-captain at the Power in 2010-11, and filled in as skipper for injured skipper Dom Cassisi for nine games in the season just gone.
 
Cornes - long spoken of as a 'spiritual leader' at Port Adelaide - was vice-captain from 2006-08.

McDonald was Melbourne captain for two years before being tapped on the shoulder by the Demons at the end of 2010.

Any of this quartet could be asked to lead the club in its first season, with Power, arguably, the standout choice. It might be the safer option - to shield Scully, Ward or Davis from the intense heat that 2012 will bring. But then again, the Giants seem to be happy with suffering some short-term pain if it helps bring the club long-term gains in the form of a premiership or two.

Another possibility is multiple captains being chosen. Maybe the Giants could hedge their bets with a Power-Ward or Cornes-Scully partnership.

But will GWS want co-captains? Even coach Kevin Sheedy appears confused.

In May, he wrote in a newspaper column that he wasn't a fan of dual captains, but then, in a radio interview in early November, he said: "We may have a dual captaincy and I don’t have problem with that."

Whatever way the Giants decide to go, Sheedy says the club is still some way from choosing its first captain.

"At this stage as a coaching group we haven't sat down to discuss our approach as yet - I think we'll get together to asses this after the draft," Sheedy told AFL.com.au.
 
"We need some time to see how these boys work as a unit. It's too early to tell who will be the standouts for this group in terms of leadership.
 
"After Christmas, we might use the NAB Cup as a way of testing certain players and seeing what might work best before we head in to the season."

It seems the when and the how of choosing a new captain will be the easy part for Sheedy and the Giants. The big question is who.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs