Hawthorn's Liam Shiels is regarded by good judges as an AFL captain-in-waiting, but the triple-premiership midfielder is content to continue his apprenticeship for now.
With the departures of respected leaders Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis in the off-season, Shiels and Isaac Smith were made vice-captains behind new skipper Jarryd Roughead.
Shiels has previously been touted as a future captain of the club, notably by Hawthorn champion Jason Dunstall.
The 25-year-old doesn't shy away from those aspirations, but knows he still has plenty of work ahead of him.
"This is my first year as vice-captain and I still know I've got a lot to learn," Shiels said.
"The lucky position that I'm in is I'm still learning from guys like Luke Hodge, Jarryd Roughead and Josh Gibson.
"I'm in a fortunate position but I haven't really thought too much about captaincy."
Roughead, 30, succeeded triple-premiership skipper Hodge after missing all of the 2016 season as he battled melanoma.
"Roughie has been fantastic ... he's an amazing character," Shiels said.
"Even through his illness last year he was at the club most days giving feedback, siting through meetings and playing basketball with the boys.
"For him to step up as captain is a great story and is really inspirational."
After an off-season of significant change, Shiels admits there is a different feel around the club entering the 2017 season, but that doesn't mean expectations are lower.
"Our mantra for probably the past five years now has been to finish top four to give ourselves the best chance to do some damage in September, that stays the same," he said.
"Losing those guys does give the young guys the chance to step up ... there's spots up for grabs, so the energy at training has been fantastic.
"We've got great young players coming through, we've always had great depth, so that's probably our greatest strength.
"We've obviously picked up a few new guys as well so I think we're set for a great year."
Jaeger O'Meara, Tom Mitchell and Ty Vickery were key acquisitions for the Hawks after they were bundled out of last year's finals series in straight sets.
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