And there is still much more the 25-year-old knows he has and wants to learn about the role.

The Rooster was co-captain alongside experienced campaigner Nick Thompson for the first time last season.

In 2020 he was preparing to enter his second year in the role before the coronavirus forced a halt to the Hampden league's season.

Before last season Youl, who returned to club in 2017 after spending time in Ballarat with the Greater Western Victoria Rebels and with North Ballarat in the VFL, was part of the side's leadership group.

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Since returning to the club he has made a commitment to himself and his teammates of leading by example.

"You always want to lead by example and definitely over the years I have learnt a lot and developed a lot as well," he said.

"I had the basics as a junior and I have still got a lot to learn now and got a lot of developing to go over the years getting more experience and learning more from different people."

Youl said he was always trying to get the best out of himself and if that meant continuing as captain he would do it.

Working hard was a mantra he brought back from his days at the Rebels and with North Ballarat under the likes of Gerard FitzGerald.

"Playing under 'Fitzy' and with good, established players the main thing I learnt was how important work rate was, how to work, train hard and what my training standards needed to be," the midfielder said.

"It's something I brought back to South and everyone is chipping in at the moment so it's easy but always got room to improve.

"Having blokes like Josh Saunders, who has been at AFL level, and Shannon Beks, who has VFL experience, help as well. They are very competitive guys so that definitely helps too with training standards.

"As a list we are getting older and more experienced and we want to keep improving. I see a lot of potential in the group."

Youl said having Nick Thompson, a dual premiership player and experienced skipper, alongside him made it easier to transition into the role.

"It was good doing co-captaincy with him as it takes the pressure off one person and also Nick is experienced in that field as he has been captain for a long time," he said.

"With Nick the best thing about him is no matter how he is playing he manages to still be positive and that has a positive effect on the playing group. That's something I found most difficult being a first-year captain.

"When I am not having a good game or things aren't going your way to have a mindset to have a positive influence on rest of the group and that has been the biggest learning point so far."

Youl said coach Mat Battistello and assistant Danny Finn were also big influences last season.

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