In my opinion we havn`t had a true leader or captain at the club since Mike Gregory, its something i gave an opinion on whilst discussing a similar subject on another thread. Its a subject that deserves its own thread as i think its something we need to address.

Being a captain is a highly skilled role in any team, its not just about making a player captain that gives 101% every week. A captain must be a player that other players respect and look up too and when he speaks the other players stand up and take notice, the majority of great captains down the years in RL have been very vocal as players.

A prime example of a player that gave 100% every week and lead by example was Bob Jackson yet he wouldn`t have made a great captain as Bob was very quiet by nature and he preferred to just get on with things, its not just about leading by example with ball in hand along and being tough in defence, its a highly skilled role being a captain and your either a natural or your not.

I look at our squad and i don`t see one player that would make an ideal captain, Morley is a player that only knows one way to play and thats by giving 100% in each game, that doesn`t make him a natural captain though and to me he isn`t vocal enough to be a leader. Take Gorden Tallis and Andy Farrell as examples, both those had the skill of being able to communicate with stern words and both were very vocal and came across as natural and very respected leaders.

To me Mozza doesn`t come across as a natural leader as he seems a bit reserved when it comes to a vocal dressing down when the situation calls, the likes of Lee Briers wouldn`t come across the type of person you would respect getting a verbal dressing down from, a captain to me is a skilled role and i don`t think we have a natural in our club like Leeds have in Sinfield and Saints have in Cunningham just to use 2 examples from over here as leaders that drive their teams.

We need a modern day Mike Gregory, someone who is respected in the game and isn`t affraid to bark out the orders where most importantly the players take note and listen, to be honest i don`t think many would take Monaghan serious as a captain after all the facial blaming he has done in the past, you know the look i mean where he stares at someone who has made a mistake as if to say your cr@p you are and i`m too good for all this.

Its something i would make a priority ASAP, all great sides what ever the sport have great leaders and its something we need to get right.

You are rather overstating the role of Captain. Really the most important role for the Captain is to make sure the message of the game planning from the coaching staff is communicated on the field on game day, almost like a coaching mouthpiece.

The other aspects (giving 100%, being vocal on the field etc etc) should be responsibilities of EVERY player.

And if there is any 'dressing down' to be done that sould be done by the coaching staff. The team should remain as a unit with all players as equals.

poll, anyone?

isn't he a premiership referee why would we want him as our captain,I would want Sinfield if he was ever available

I'm not sure who I'd make captain but I agreee that it's sometrhing that needs looking at. Morley doesn't come across as a leader and doesn't seem to rip into the players or try and lift them after conceding a try or making a mistake. All though players may not have taken to Briers having a go at them at least he was vocal.

Monas?






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I don't think you can go out and hand pick a captain to 'buy'.
It all depends on his interaction within the squad environment, IMO.

Greg Mackey was a great captain.

I agree with Mark's comment, I feel the captain's role is overrated by fans. For me, all he has to do is give the effort and be a role model off the field. It's pretty much something you expect from all players, I don't think you can blame Mozza for the others not having the same fire in their bellies (not said that for years!).

Watching us the other day, I seen Briers smacking booty, King patting backs and communicating well, it's something you expect from all of the lads, not just one or two.

Good teams have lots of leaders. Bit old fashioned to think we need one in particular although I understand Rob's point.

Cheeky bid for Kevin Sinfield perhaps? although highly unlikely, he's a great leader for Leeds and a top goalkicker to boot.

do you not watch briers during a game, the most natural leader in our squad

if i was a young lad i don't think i'd want to sign for wire there's a lot of bloody negative sod's in here.

Any chance of being positive getting behind the lads and having some positivity rub off on the team.

Nowt wrong with Moz, fantastic bloke and a good captain

I agree that the role is being overstated, but then I feel you rather overstate the importance too.

I wouldn't say that the captains role is to be a coaching mouthpiece, certainly not from a tactical point of view.

It is generally just someone who leads from the front and sets a good example. Morley does this just fine IMO.

I also don;t agree with the OP about nobody good since Gregory. Greg Mackey was certainly a good skipper for us.

Someone speaks sense at last! Look at some one the captains the the game currently and tell me one of these doesn't lead by example.

Cameron Smith
Craig Fitzgibbon
Steve Price
Roy Asotasi
Nathan Cayless
Jamie Peacock
Jason Demetriou
Kieron Cunningham

I didn't take that rumour seriously tbh, I just thought it was people putting 2 and 2 together with us having Smith, like, unless a bloody good insider confirms it, like LWF, then I shall be taking it with a pinch of salt.

Wayne Bennett reckons the role of captain is understated not overstated. In his book he says if you have a great coach with a bad captain, he's struggling...a bad coach with a good captain, he makes the coach look good.

What's people's opinion on whether a Captain should play in a position where he spends 80 minutes on the pitch ????

I would say the ideal situation would be to have a great Loose Forward as your captain. I know on a thread the other day I said I wouldnt sign any Leeds players but I still feel that Sinfield is a great player / Captain.

I am not doubting Morleys ability to lead but I do feel that the captain needs to be on the field for the full 80 minutes for most games.
Loose Forward gives you the toughness of playing in the pack but the skills / brain of a halfback / back and most 13's play most of the games.

I think we have been missing a real no 13 for a long while now. Purdham would do for me as he ticks most of the boxes.
Decent in play kicker.
Tough Forward who tries to not go to ground with the ball
Decent link player
Uncomprimising defender.
Bonus in that he can kick goals as well.

Shelford, Nikau, Forshaw and others have only been able to tick some of these boxes, Even Mike Gregory struggled in the kicking dept but we had good kickers through his time at the club, Hanley did ok without the ability to kick from hand. Purdham has the lot and would make a great leader.

Not worried about that. However he must be an automatic choice and arguably must be the best player in his position at the club (sort of the same thing).

That is what I was getting at really; the captian is an extension of the coaching on the field and acts as a mouthpiece. However what I was saying is overstated is this concept of a 100% all action shouty, talky type. I would rather all players acted with such leadership qualities.

Who are the 14 skippers in SL?

Of course you were lol, with Wayne Bennett confirming that the role of a captain is understated you then change track.



I`m not sure where you get this notion from that a captain is an extension of the coaching and acts as a mouthpiece, every player will know his role on the pitch, every player will know the set moves, every player will be aware of the game plan especially the key play makers and the kicker as they will have trained to it during the week, a captain will just remind players now and then what they have been doing all week and and to keep their minds on the job especially after a try has been concveded. His main role is a motivational one and to give his team mates a little confidence boost every now and then when needed especially after a mistake, they are like an aggressive version of a nanny on the pitch which is to look after their team mates.

If anything needs changing during a game then instructions are sent on via the water carriers or subs to the main playmakers and kickers whether they are the captain or not, the captain is there to lift the spirits of the team when things are not going to plan and to to give out praise when its called for, like i said above every player in the team knows the game plan, they know the set plays and the captain is their purely as a motivator ala Mike Gregory and many other great captains and motivators.

With due respect to some forwards, they are not the sharpest tools in the box so to overload them with too much info will have a bearing on their performance where they are not focused on what they should be doing first and foremost, i will stand by what i said in that a captains role is a very skilled one and you need someone who is well respected, has good player communication skills, someone who isn`t affraid to lay the law down when the team is underperforming and someone that leads by example.

As i said previously, Adrian Morley is not a big talker and he comes across as very reserved in that area and a player who just wants to get on with playing RL and doing what he does best. If Adrian Morley was potential captain material then why has he only been made captain of his country on just one occasion which was in an experimental side where he was one of the most experienced players on the pitch hence he was made captain.

Anyway this isn`t about Moz as his job to me is to be a front row enforcer and to lay the platform for our backs to have some quality field position along with the rest of our pack, the 2 teams that have been the most successful in SL in recent times have great captains that are not affraid to lay the law down and you quite often see them chatting to the refs during a game just to see what angle he is coming from with the decisions which was something Mike Gregory used to be great at, it gets a sort of bond between the ref and captain of a side.

How many times do you see Moz having a chat to a ref or laying the law down to our players ? Ive seen Moz get penalised and has simply run back into the line, thats fair enough for a normal player to do which shows good dicipline but when its your captain a friendly chat to the ref every now and then (and not a Briers rant and dummy spat) can go a long way in a game, Sinfield is a master of this along with Cunningham at Saints.

Anyway its just a debate and its good to have decent RL debates every now and then.

this is being addressed but it won't be sinfield.

God you really a neanderthal who is seemingly stuck in the 1970s and has got his coaching 'knowledge' from a Maurice Bamford book. Read the next sentence there is no change of track. You then go on and on about the captain being a 'motivator' (clearly your idea of motivation seems to be in proportion to how much they shout)when that is not as essential as being able to communicate what the coach wants the team to acheive, particularly if a change is requitred during the match itself.

Not very interesting ramble about talking to referees as well; you pick Sinfield out when he is getting a deserved reputation for whining unecessarily to the referee. Referees are only human and a player constantly getting in his ear would sometimes have a very negative effect.

And yes, to the more salient points raised by others, the captain should be on the pitch at all times and should really be a pivot player (ideally 6, 7 or 13) for the reasons I mention above about communicating the game plan.