Some words of wisdom from Bob Murphy gave Easton Wood the confidence he needed to take on the role as captain, and now the defender is flourishing.  

Wood has stepped seamlessly into the role of on-field captain, but said it took some time to adjust.

“I love the football club and you love your teammates and you just hope you’re doing it justice,” said Wood, speaking with AFL360 on Thursday night.

“Bob is such an amazing person and has done such an amazing job as the leader of our football club so they’re enormously large shoes to fill.

“The comforting thought was when Bob spoke to me after he’d done his knee, he said ‘all you can ever do is just be you’.

“’That’s going to be enough and you stay true to that and you’re genuine, it’s going to be more than enough.’”

Wood has averaged 16 disposals and six marks since taking on the role, including a best on ground performance against Collingwood in round 10, where he earned a perfect 10 from Luke Beveridge and Nathan Buckley in AFLCA voting.

The 26-year-old said despite not changing his ways dramatically, he’s noticed little changes in the way he goes about his football.

“I’m not a ra-ra kind of guy, I’ve had to tweak a little bit of the tempo and trying to bring that energy to it but I’ve tried to do it my way (as much as) possible.

“I’m probably a little bit (more vocal), I certainly now am noticing more.

“Rather than seeing things from your own perspective, you try and look at how things are affecting other people in the group as a whole.

“It’s nice to take it out of your own head and worry about yourself a little bit less and contribute more to the group.”

While the Dogs have been challenged this season with a number of injuries in the early rounds, Wood has been impressed by the way his side’s overcome that.

“Every season you’re going to be presented with different challenges and you can’t be prepared for what they are, you can just deal with them as they come along.

“The strength of the group has been we’ve dealt with that quite well.”