Star pair Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley ‘hard to split’ as potential co-captaincy replacement for Lachie Neale

Lions defender Ryan Lester says it will be a tough decision in choosing a new Brisbane co-captain should the club again have two skippers this season following Lachie Neale’s decision to stand down.

Neale earlier this month announced he was vacating the captaincy role he shared with Harris Andrews for the previous three seasons due to “personal matters” after the well-publicised breakdown of his marriage.

“Given the personal matters I’m currently working through, I have made the decision to stand down as co-captain and from the leadership group,” Neale said on January 2.

With Brisbane’s captaincy duties decided by a player vote, Lester and his teammates must now decide whether Andrews takes sole possession of role as skipper or it is again a case of co-captains in the Lions’ quest for a hat-trick of premierships.

Last year’s vice-captains, star midfielders Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley, seem the obvious candidates to fill the void left by Neale if they Lions opt for the same captaincy model for the fourth successive year.

“(Andrews) could definitely take it (by himself) if that’s the way (it goes),” Lester said on Wednesday.

“We have a player vote, so that ultimately will decide it.

“‘Dunks’ and ‘Huey’, I find them very hard to split if you were going to go down the path of two captains.

“It’s one or three for me.”

Lester, 33, is part of a Brisbane defensive unit that has lost enforcer Brandon Starcevich, who after eight years with the Lions moved home to Perth in the off-season to join West Coast Eagles.

“There’s not many players that play like him in the competition as well as he does ... but we think we’ve got enough quality players to fill that gap,” Lester said.

They include Noah Answerth, who missed last year’s grand-final win over Geelong after rupturing his Achilles tendon in July.

“You’d probably say Noah Answerth is a pretty similar player (to Starcevich) – very reliable and can play on those really dangerous small forwards,” Lester said.

“Like any club, we’ve got lots of options and it’s exciting.”