Nick Riewoldt and the Players Who’ve Played the Most Games as Captain

At last night’s St Kilda Best and Fairest night, Nick Riewoldt announced that he will stand aside as captain after leading the club for 220 games.

Clearly the club’s longest serving captain, Riewoldt ranks third for most games as captain in the game’s history and just six games behind record holder, Carlton’s Stephen Kernahan.

The St Kilda champion led the Saints in 2005, in 2007 as co-captain alongside Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball, and then in his own right from 2008 until the end of 2016.

If not for an annual captaincy rotation instituted by then coach Grant Thomas, Riewoldt could have led the club in 2006 as well and easily broken the record for most games as an VFL/AFL captain.

Most Games as a VFL/AFL Captain

1. Stephen Kernahan (Carlton) 226 games

2. Dick Reynolds (Essendon) 224 games

3. Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda) 220 games

4. Ted Whittem (Footscray) 212 games

5. Michael Voss (Brisbane) 210 games

6. John Nicholls (Carlton) 188 games

7. Wayne Carey (North Melbourne) 184 games

8. Paul Kelly (Sydney) 182 games

9. Danny Frawley (St Kilda) 177 games

10. Percy Bentley (Richmond) 168 games