‘Truck’ has been unbelievable for me personally, especially, earlier in my career.

Truck’s a very unselfish player. He knew that in order for the team to get better, I had to develop quickly after Nathan Bock and Phil Davis left for other clubs and he worked closely with me.

I’ve learned a lot from Truck. His main message is always gives is to play to your strengths and he’s a great example of that. He was fantastic in helping me adapt to different opponents and also in teaching me how to position myself. Not being an overly tall defender, he’s had to be smart in terms of how he positions himself and cut the angles. He’s such a big unit and he’s used that to his advantage by getting body on his man his whole career.

A lot of the defenders, who are close to Truck knew he was leaning towards this year being his last and that he was unlikely to play every game. He trained really hard over the pre-season with the intention of getting through one more season and also started focusing more on the coaching aspect.

Truck’s been fantastic for our defenders. He’s almost like a coach out on the field. During the week, he runs a lot of the drills with (defensive coach) Darren Milburn and talks through ways we can improve as a back six. He’ll be a great coach and he’ll slot straight into a defensive group. I’m not sure where but I imagine he’ll be coaching at an AFL club next year.

It’s going to be different when Truck and then ‘Radar’ (Brent Reilly) aren’t there over the next couple of years.

Guys like myself, Andy Otten, Brodie Smith and Ricky Henderson are going to have to stand up. Kyle Hartigan and Luke Thompson will have to come in and fill that key defensive post. Kyle has played some great footy this year and Luke Thompson has come in at times, including the Showdown in Round 15, and done a good job. They’ve got strength and speed. It’s just about getting an opportunity and confidence.

We’ll also have to step up to fill the leadership void Truck will leave when he retires.

Leadership is an area I’ve had to work on after getting some feedback from the coaches last year. Being the deepest player on the field at times, you’ve got to have a massive voice and set people up. It’s important for team structure.

I feel like improving in that area. I’ve started to do some work with a couple of the younger boys, including Kyle, but I need to continue to get better. Hopefully, if we all pitch in a bit we can cover the loss of ‘Truck’ next season and beyond.