Jobe Watson has today joined the 17 other captains at the AFL’s annual Captain Day held at the MCG.

Every year captains from each club gather together to help launch the AFL Season and, more importantly, catch-up and talk about current issues in the sport.

Now entering his sixth year as captain, Watson values the opportunity to meet with his fellow peers and voice his thoughts about the current state of the game.

“You form good relationships with the other guys,” said Watson

“The longer you do it, the better relationships you have with the captains.

“It becomes a bit more of a worthwhile experience where you are actually discussing big issues and things that are really relevant and trying to implement some change.”

Watson believes that this year there was a shared focus on player welfare amongst captains, particularly the mental health of those in and out of the game.

“There’s a common theme throughout players from different clubs that everybody seems to be concerned about the same thing,” said Watson

“The opportunity to voice that opinion to the AFL and the commission over a lunch is important.”

Although they may be competitive when it comes to the game there are no hard feelings between any of the 18 captains, with many of them having played together in the 2014 International Rules series against Ireland.

Players mingled with each other for several promotional photos for the AFL, including a number of ‘selfies’ with some very happy fans.

“We had a photo shoot with fans, the people who play all over Australia.

“It was nice to engage with them and be a part of it, and you really get to see how much (the game) means to local clubs and local fans.”

Watson will now turn his attention to preparing himself for the club’s round one clash against Sydney at the SCG.