West Australian Football

Before his career is over, Toby McGrath would like to go from being one of the game’s premier players to being a WAFL premiership captain.

A premiership player, Simpson and Sandover medallist with South Fremantle, McGrath was the obvious choice for the Bulldog’s captaincy following the retirement of David Gault last year.

His outstanding leadership of the club through the first 11 rounds of the season saw McGrath awarded the captaincy of Western Australia against Queensland recently.

State captaincy aside, he said being chosen as the captain of the football club has been a highlight of his long and decorated career.

“Being the captain of the footy club I’ve played with for so long is probably up there with winning a premiership or becoming a life member,” McGrath said.

He said that having the rest of the team look up to him has improved his attitude and performance on the field and increased his appetite for another premiership.

The Bulldogs have been in the top four all year and a lot of their competitiveness can be contributed to McGrath’s leadership and contribution on the field, where he is averaging 20 disposals and five marks.

“There’s a more responsibility [on the field] with all of the boys looking up to me as the captain,” he said.

“It puts me under a bit more pressure and I think that makes me play better football.”

McGrath’s leadership capabilities have grown through watching and playing under some of the strongest leader in football.

His time on the rookie list at Essendon gave him the opportunity to learn from players like James Hird and Mark Johnson.

“I looked up to blokes like [Hird and Johnson] like other guys are looking up to me now,” he said.

“The experience of playing with them helped me mature and has taught me how to be a good leader.”

After all of his success in football, McGrath still has a few goals he would like to achieve in the WAFL.

He said captaining a premiership and reaching the 200 game milestone would be a fitting end to his career.

“By that stage I reckon my body would be just about done.”