Launceston leadership duo could 'work together for a number of years'

The pair were announced through the Blues' social media streams on Monday night - with Palfreyman to captain for a second-straight season and Gillow a first-time vice.

"Brodie won our best and fairest from an individual standpoint but more importantly, he connected with the younger guys really well and that was evident in the one-sided nature of the voting," coach Mitch Thorp said.

"He keeps going from strength to strength, both as a player but also as a leader coming through the club.

"Bailey is just a natural leader and a very popular young man.

"His training standards are probably our strongest - his aerobic capacity is especially a standout - and now he's starting to communicate at a level that his peers deemed worthy of vice-captain."

Palfreyman was co-captain last year, teaming with Jobi Harper - who didn't take to the field following his round-nine suspension.

Ryan Tyrrell and Joe Groenewegen were last year's vice-captains, with Tyrrell - alongside playing-assistant coach Jake Hinds - having departed for Bridgenorth.

Gillow's elevation into the leadership role comes after kicking the winning goal on debut as a 16-year-old in 2019.

Now 21, the powerful midfielder has grown into one of the Blues' best.

"He's been a significant contributor over a number of years now," Thorp said.

"The next part of his game was to build out his leadership and he took really big strides forward last year and now he steps into the vice-captaincy.

"I daresay that with time, he may look to step into the captaincy role as Brodie starts to mature - but they're both great young men.

"I can see these two guys working together for a number of years now."

Palfreyman's second year in the role comes after his 2023 was cut short due to injury.

As well as incurring a three-match suspension for "serious misconduct", the 25-year-old suffered a broken leg and a dislocated ankle in a tackle.

Thorp detailed his star midfielder's recovery.

"We took a bit of a slower approach with him but we had 45 minutes of match practice last night and he did the whole lot so he's back up and running now," he said.

"We certainly took our time pre-Christmas to make sure we could iron out his leg and then he had some issues with his abdominal wall as well, so he just had a nice break pre-Chrissy but he's up and firing now."

The Blues open their 2024 campaign with a battle against traditional cross-town rivals North Launceston on Good Friday - March 29.