Fremantle defender Alex Pearce has been named Dockers' captain.
On Thursday, the club announced the 27-year-old becomes just the 10th man to lead the club since their inclusion into the competition in 1995.
Pearce said he is "humbled and proud" to take on the honour following the departure of Nat Fyfe from the role in recent weeks.
"I'm certainly incredibly humbled and proud to be here to be the captain," he said.
"To hear the words that you're the captain is pretty special.
"To run out there and know that everyone who's alongside me and who's a part of this club values me as a leader means a lot. It really empowers me to be the best I can and really try and help grow the group."
The Tasmanian has notched 80 games with the Dockers, undergoing significant periods sidelined with injury, since joining the club with pick 37 in the 2013 national draft.
Pearce had already skippered the side on 16 occasions, filling in for an injured Fyfe across a long-stint last season.
Despite the bulk of pundits and footy public marking 2022 breakout star and club best-and-fairest Andrew Brayshaw as obvious choice, Fremantle footy boss Peter Bell said Pearce was an easy choice for the job.
"He's a really capable leader with a lot of room to continue to grow and continue to inspire his teammates and represent the club in its best light," Bell said.
"What you want from your leaders is to be a real conduit from the coaches out onto the field and during the week, of course, and Alex was highly skilled in all of those areas."
The Tommegine Palawa man becomes just the eighth Indigenous man to skipper a VFL/AFL club, and second elevated into the position in 2023 after Jy Simpkin was named North Melbourne co-captain last month.
He joins the illustrious of Graham "Polly" Farmer, Gavin Wanganeen, Michael Long, Chris Johnson, Adam Goodes and Steven May on that list.
Pearce said he had discussed First Nations leadership in the game with teammate and Noongar-Ngarrindjeri man Michael Walters - who captained Freo for one game in 2020.
"(It's) something that I certainly would never have expected and don't feel like I belong alongside any of those names," Pearce said.
On Wednesday Freo revealed their upcoming rebrand to Walyalup Football Club for the AFL and AFLW Indigenous rounds, adopting the Noongar name for the Country the club calls home.
On Thursday the club confirmed Pearce will design the Dockers' Indigenous jumper in 2023.
"This year with the Indigenous round and the influence that I've had on designing the jersey, It's going to be a special, special couple of weeks when we get to wear that and to be able to lead the team out wearing it again," he said.
"It's going to be incredibly special to me."
Fremantle face Adelaide in a practice match on Friday before their round one clash against St Kilda on March 19.
