By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne Football Club has announced that Zak Roscoe and Dylan Cavalot will lead the Eagles in 2024; the first time in club history that it has gone down the route of co-captains.
Coach Steve O’Brien made the announcement to the squad on Monday night, which represents a changing of the guard with talismanic leader Brandon Osborne stepping down from the post he has held since 2018.
The much-loved defender took the Eagles to back-to-back grand finals, including the premiership in 2022.
Neither player has permanently led their own side before with the pair keen to lead a rejuvenated Eagles outfit in 2024.
“It’s a massive honour,” Roscoe said.
“Playing juniors at Cranbourne, and then seniors, and now getting the opportunity to follow Brandon who has been captain for six years, it’s a privilege to back that up and take a young group and hopefully teach them what we have learned growing up so we can stay competitive.”
Setting the standards for the young players will be critical as Cranbourne looks to sustain its period of success.
The club will field an under-19 side this season after not getting one up last year, with several set to also push for senior footy.
“I want to make sure we’re not taking any short cuts so the younger guys coming into the club know what to expect and understand what senior footy is about,” Roscoe said.
“I want to give them a good example of that.”
While Roscoe came second in the league best and fairest in 2023 and won a best afield medal in a premiership side in 2022, Cavalot’s external status is much less known.
An in-and-under midfielder who has been in the leadership group for several years, Cavalot made his senior debut against Hampton Park in round 1, 2016, playing in the premiership side that year and has since played 88 games for Cranbourne.
Cavalot missed the 2022 premiership with an ankle injury, but bounced back last year, playing all 21 games and was commonly referenced by O’Brien as an important piece in unlocking weapons Roscoe and Jarryd Barker.
“For me, words can do a lot, but actions do more, and our group do respond well to big one percenters, big hits and putting your body on the line,” Cavalot said.
“That revs them up and gets them playing their best, so that’s something I’ll be aiming to bring.
“I’ve been at this club for a while now and have looked up to all the captains I’ve played under and they’ve given the rest of the group inspiration.
“They’re a bunch of legends so I’m pretty keen to lead them alongside Zakky.”
Roscoe is confident in the Cranbourne squad’s ability to once again contend, despite expectation it will drop off following a series of departures headed by forwards Marc Holt and Kirk Dickson.
“On paper, I’m still stoked with our 26-28,” Roscoe said.
“Teams might take us lightly but I think we’re going to have a pretty good side out there, and everyone is on the same page and buying in so I think we will be a tough team to face every week.”
The club is set to confirm the full leadership group in the next few weeks.
ROSCOE ON CAVALOT
“He’s like Brandon. You stand behind him and he’s laying 100 tackles and putting his head over the ball all day, and you stand taller.”
CAVALOT ON ROSCOE
“He’s a work horse. He goes all day. I haven’t played with anyone else who can run as hard as this guy does on the field and he’s one of the smartest footballers as well, he’s so on top of things. One of Zak’s best attributes is the way he can spread his knowledge and talk about certain scenarios in the game and make it really understandable for everyone else.”
