'WHEN I talk to you, I feel like you're just waiting for the next opportunity to speak." That's what a young Heath Scotland said to me in a discussion in a corridor at Victoria Park in the last few weeks of the 2000 season.

It was my eighth year in the AFL, my seventh at Collingwood — the previous two as club captain. I had also captained the Allies and Australia and in all these capacities I had given my all, on and off the field, for the people I represented.

And yet it wasn't until I heard those honest words from a young teammate that my leadership journey began. Leading by example wasn't enough. I went to him for feedback and walked away with a lot of thinking to do.

That single, innocent chat was the catalyst for a new path throughout an infinitely more rewarding period of my career. The leadership challenges became as exciting as the game itself. It was a massive area of improvement and despite the fact that we failed to secure the ultimate prize, playing in a unified and selfless team gave me a new-found sense of pride and satisfaction I'd yearned for.

What this should reinforce is that a captain is just a captain by name, but his influence as a leader is of real consequence. This also works in reverse, and it is true that leaders without the captaincy tag can be — and are — just as influential in today's structure.

Despite this, there will always be public focus on the captain above and beyond other leaders of a club. He is held accountable to the highest standards, his every move will be watched, his every word dissected.

There is still room for sentimentality in our game and we all want to believe that the captain can leap tall buildings with a single bound and will challenge for a Nobel Peace Prize. In reality, the only thing a captain does differently to other leaders in the organisations is toss the coin, speak at official functions and get his photo taken with the other 15 supermen at the beginning of the year.

Early in my career, I played under larger-than-life captains who led with charisma and work ethic. Tony Shaw and Roger Merrett were universally respected figures who carried an aura that their positions demanded. Strong leadership was even more important then because there was less support for the captain, and he and the coach ran the football club with his strength of character.

I was exposed to the epitome of the old-fashioned captain from an early age. Mark Williams was the boisterous Port Adelaide skipper who was as tough as nails on the field and loved the intimidatory aspect of the game, both physical and verbal, and not just to the opposition.

One day as an under-19s player at Port Adelaide, I had the chance to train with the seniors and took part in a series of shuttle runs across the length of the square. "Choco" was at least three lengths behind and still was berating the young guys for not being further in front. I would have laughed if he wasn't so serious about it.

I knew he sat on match committee and was involved in team selection and so the words from his mouth carried no less weight than the coach's. As a young player, you spent just as much time working for and impressing the captain as you did the coach.

In today's environment, the captain is expected to focus on the playing aspect. The leadership structures are run with the assistance of specialised, outsourced companies and the game plan and selection are handled by the burgeoning coaching departments and overseen by the head coach, who decides the part that the captain and his players will have.

Perhaps the two clubs at which the ideal of captaincy remains the strongest are Carlton and Collingwood.

With a more traditional perspective at these clubs, the influence of the captain is assumed to be greater, and so the focus on him is magnified. At the end of last season, these two clubs found themselves with captaincy decisions in totally different scenarios.

At the Magpies, there was a perceived leadership void due to my retirement and the sudden departure of the man most likely, James Clement. Having the benefit of inside knowledge, I know that things are not as they appear from the outside. At Collingwood, the leadership group — not just the captain and coach — is responsible for setting the agenda for the players.

Scott Burns, the new Magpies captain, has been a brilliant leader throughout his career and he has the capacity to buffer the pressures of his new role.

Despite the trend to spread leadership, there are times when someone needs to stand up and set the lead in pivotal moments for the club. Perhaps the most difficult leadership situation is when you are dealing with an incident that has become public.

At Carlton, Chris Judd has been thrust into a role he is familiar with but with more focus than he has been accustomed to. It would be interesting to know how much Judd was involved in the handling of Brendan Fevola's latest misdemeanour.

The most important relationship a captain has is with his coach. In my time under Mick, he warmed to the idea of player ownership and has embraced the importance of player accountability. Don't get it wrong, though — the coach is the boss and Mick was always happy to remind us of that.

The responsibilities of leadership are great and those of a captain carry a little extra focus but the rewards are enormous, especially if you are the last team standing at the end of the year.