Michael Sodomaco did not have to be asked twice if he wanted to captain Werribee football team.
The 23-year-old jumped at the chance to lead the playing group into the heat of battle in his fifth VFL season at the club.
Sodomaco was a stand-out first choice as skipper for Tigers senior coach John Lamont.
“Michael’s got natural leadership capabilities and characteristics, a good, strong, well-rounded personality that suits the role, and he’s had leadership positions along the way as a junior,” Lamont said. “It was a very popular appointment and an obvious one.
“He feels a sense of privilege to be given the responsibility and a sense of pride about the role he’s got,” Lamont said.
Sodomaco caught the eyes of Tigers’ scouts as a teenager at the Geelong Falcons. His leadership qualities were evident from a young age and he was appointed captain of the Falcons in the under-18 TAC Cup.
Sodomaco had to fight tooth and nail to lock down a regular senior berth at Werribee. He needed to add a second string to his bow because he wasn’t going to get a lot of minutes on the ball with the likes of Dom Gleeson and the North Melbourne-aligned troop roaming the midfield.
Sodomaco took on a small defender role and made it his own, before time in the midfield started to open up.
“You’ve got to be able to play two positions and have a back-up option otherwise it’s hard to get a game in a senior footy team” Sodomaco said. “I went down back and tried that out and learned the role.”
Sodomaco had his loyalty rewarded last season with his inclusion in the Tigers’ eight-man leadership group. When former skipper Jarrad Moore left, Sodomaco was ready and willing to fill the void.
“To get my name up on the board next to the guys I’ve got so much respect for in the past is definitely an honour and a bit of a thrill as well,” he said of one of the captaincy perks.
“I’ve always tried to live and play by the Werribee footy club trademarks.
“We’re really big on creating a brand of football that people have come to expect and I’ve always tried my best to play in accordance with that.”
Sodomaco was devastated to miss the Tigers’ season opener against Geelong on Friday night after sustaining a hamstring injury at training.
The undermanned Tigers went down by three goals in a tight contest.
“I am a bit annoyed,” he said.
“I was gearing myself up to play against Geelong.”
Sodomaco works full-time in the football industry with V-Squad, a statewide junior development program that targets talented young footballers and provides them with a pathway to the TAC Cup ranks.
He considers himself a long shot for a call- up to the AFL as a mature-aged recruit but is comfortable with the playing career he has carved out with Werribee. And he has one more important goal in his sights.
“I don’t think many AFL teams are looking for a lock-down small defender kind of player, so I certainly won’t be pinning my hopes on it,” he said.
“I just want to see Werribee up there at the back end of the finals series and competing with the top four.
“Everyone’s goal is that premiership and that’s my aim,” the captain said.
