FORMER Sydney Swans captain Brett Kirk believes coach John Longmire's first independent stamp on the club could be to appoint a sole skipper.

The Swans have not had an outright captain since 2005, when Stuart Maxfield relinquished the role he held from 2003.

Since then, the club has had three combinations of three captains with Kirk, Adam Goodes and Craig Bolton the most recent.

Kirk, who retired with the Swans' semi-final loss to the Western Bulldogs in September, says the leadership structure may be one of the few new items on Longmire's agenda.

"I think John might revert back to having one captain," Kirk told afl.com.au.

"That's just a feeling I get. I don't think it will be that much of a change because we had a lot of shared leadership at the club and a lot of guys have shared responsibilities.

"I'm not sure which direction they'll head, whether he'll appoint Adam or Craig or someone a bit younger like [Jarrad] McVeigh or [Kieren] Jack.

"That will be a decision I'm sure he'll make with input from people he trusts."

Kirk named Ryan O'Keefe as another emerging leader alongside McVeigh and Jack, who with Goodes represented Australia in the recent International Rules Series in Ireland.

He said the succession plan announced in August 2009 for Longmire to take over from Paul Roos at the end of 2010 had ensured a seamless transition for the players.

"It's a big jump going from being an assistant to a senior coach but the thing he's got on his side is he's been able to develop relationships with the players," Kirk said.

"He's got that trust already established and he communicates really well.

"I can see he'll stamp himself on the team early on with his own style, which will be a little bit different to what he was like as an assistant.

"Things will change a little but in terms of the way we played our footy, I don't think that will change too much.

"The hard, accountable style of footy we've been accustomed to seeing from the Swans, I don't think that's going to change."

Kirk said his retirement was yet to sink in with the older Swans players still to return from leave.

He also said that while he was looking forward to his role as an AFL ambassador and six months' travel to countries participating in the International Cup, he couldn't rule out an eventual return to a club.

"You never know. It will be interesting to see if 12 months out of the game I'm keen to get back involved in it or whether I'm happy outside," Kirk said.

"I guess time will tell. Coaching interests me but I haven't seriously considered it.

"Straight out of the game I didn't want to get involved in coaching but who knows down the track where my future will go."