Tigers name two captains

CHRIS Newman and Nathan Foley will co-captain Richmond in this week’s match against Adelaide after Kane Johnson was ruled out.

Johnson is expected to be sidelined for up to four weeks with a strained medial ligament from Sunday’s loss to the Sydney Swans.

Richmond coach Terry Wallace said the captain’s absence gave the chance for his deputies to show their worth as leaders.

“We won’t differentiate between either Newy or Nathan,” Wallace said.

“It is a great opportunity for those guys. Others aspiring to leadership roles [will have] to take up a bit of slack. Kane’s been good in that area of driving the boys forward.”

But Wallace said the caretaker captaincy was not necessarily an audition for Johnson’s eventual successor.

“Who knows where your next captain comes from? We’ve got a leadership group in place and they’re running it well.

“We’ve picked two vice-captains for a reason so those two blokes will lead the side on the weekend.”

Wallace said Johnson may return earlier than expected and should have a better idea of when he will return in the coming weeks.

“We’ll see how he goes. At the moment it’s pretty loose. I think he’ll know more in 10 days just how he’s travelling and whether it’s settled quickly or not. (With) those types of injuries, it is just how they settle,” he said.

Wallace said the loss to the Swans was a setback after some recent form for the Tigers.

“I think people are quick to jump one way and jump quickly another way. That’s the nature of the business isn’t it? Within ourselves we think we’ve made some real ground over the past six weeks. We’ve taken six steps forward and one major step backwards,” he said.

“It will be this weekend and the next couple of weeks to see if we march forward or allow one game to impact what we’ve done over a five or six-week period.

“I think you deserve to be harshly judged every time you have a non-competitive performance. I think that is reasonable. People in general will accept a loss but they won’t accept uncompetitive performances.”