Fitzroy Football Club: Great football, Great community, Great culture.

Jules set for number 1

22-Mar-2018

Its an honour to be the captain of a club with so much history and tradition and such a great culture

Having played 15 years of football with Fitzroy juniors and seniors the classy Julian Turner has been named Senior Mens Captain for Season 2018.

Julian was named as captain of a strong leadership group at Fitzroys season launch. Tom Biscaro and Tom Cheshire will be the vice captains and last years best and fairest, Max Ellis, has been elevated to the leadership group, along with Nathan Ligris joining Max Davies.

Coach Luke Mahoney said there were several stand out things about Julian which helped elevate him into the role.

From the time I walked in, Jules has set a high standard on the training track. He has a strong commitment and sets an example to the group about how to go about things.

Jules is very passionate about the club and success. Hes a student of the game and has been very keen to understand what weve been trying to do in terms of the game plan. It really helps me to know that Ive got someone on the ground who knows the plan as well as I do.

And he also just sets an example on field by how courageous he is,Luke said.

Ultimately he has the respect of the playing group and there is a lot of love for him. I expect he will be a very popular choice around the club and its a great opportunity for him.

Reflecting the alignment between captain and coach, Julian agrees his leadership strengths are about commitment and discipline. Im good at buying into what the coach is asking of the team and getting others to buy in too thats one of my strengths. I have a strong attention to detail and keep people focused on the plan./p>

Paying respect to his predecessor, Rory Angiolella, Julian said one of the good things for me in following in Rorys footsteps, is that Luke has made it clear he doesnt want me to be Rory, I should just take on the role as me and be myself.

Im probably not quite the motivator or as vocal as Rory but I like to keep the team united and Im level headed and calm. I think Im good at understanding othersperspectives.

Having played under Captains like Jimmy OReilly, Dan Bisetto and Rory they are not just great role models as footballers but also as men and if I can achieve half of what they have then Ill be very satisfied./p>

Perhaps Julesbiggest challenge will be how to meet his own standards.

I have a tendency to put pressure on myself. But I think Im a mixture of perfectionist and optimist, so I have a strong attention to detail and Ill always find room for improvement, but Ill deal with that in a positive way; without criticism or judgement.

Luke and Jules agree that the strong and balanced leadership group is going to deliver great benefits. They are all very different personalities with different leadership styles. They are also in all the different parts of the ground, so it means we have strong leaders in every line,Luke said.

Not to mention the former captain, still in the mix.

Jules thinks the complementary styles will be a real positive. The great thing we have is the assets of the others in the leadership group. It makes you feel comfortable that if you have a deficiency, someone else can step up and we can learn from each other.

Im very confident of the leadership from the wider group as well./p>

Jules also said hes very pleased with the recruiting and return of some club stalwarts.

I can really only remember one prior year where weve had such an influx of talent. There are too many to name really.

With Tom (Biscaro), Toby (Hudson) and Matty K, its great to have three genuine strong bodied, good all-round players back in the side.

Of the young ones, Noah and Bernie the Wright brothers -- are flying, along with Gus Richardson from last years under 19s.

Im really looking forward to seeing what the group can do. I think we feel stronger than this time last year. Im super excited to see how far we can take it; see if we can give it a shake.

Im the same as always at this time of year I just want to get out there now and play footy./p>

As he heads towards his first game in Fitzroys number 1 jumper, Julian says hes excited and nervous but clearly still in possession of his humour Rory leaves very big shoes to fill but also a very big number 1 captains jumper./p>

 

 


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