Are we missing a leader?

[DaveO]

A good captain does not have to be to be vocal!

That is a sound bite and not remotely true IMO.

The idea a captain can be the quiet man, just play outstandingly and the team will respond is a fallacy. It tends to get trotted out whenever anyone suggest Lockers ought to be more vocal!

This season Lockers style of captaincy hasn't been a problem because Finch has been doing most of the talking. I don't think it is any coincidence that Lockers has had what may have been his best ever season with Finch taking this responsibility. No idea if either of our new half backs will take over this role but someone needs to.

That said I think this hit the nail on the head in the first post (the bit I underlined that is) :

I feel like we are a great team but sometimes trying to "outplay" everyone cant be done in tight games and we need someone who will choke the life out the opposition.

We play the same all the time. So I don't think we need someone to do as Sinfield or Briers does. As a team we need to vary the tactics to suit the opposition and the game situation. We don't do that.

If for some reason we don't have the nous to do that then we need to play a different and much more conservative game based on defence and a low error rate.

[100% Warrior]

What concerns me is the volume of experience we're losing from the club and it doesn't sound like we'll be bringing anyone in to address it.

Since 2010 we've lost experienced players in the form of Deacon, Riddell, Gleeson, Bailey, Hoffman, Coley, Fielden, Lima, Carmont, Leuluai and Finch.

You cannot lose that much experience from the squad and fail to replace it adequately.

Look what happened to the club the last time was allowed to happen when we lost O'Connor, Pongia, Smith, Lam and Farrell all within a short space of time.

[Blackpool_Pie]

Barrett was a brilliant leader

[TonyH]

Friday night summed up for me that we lack composure at certain times. I was screaming for a drop goal when we were 12-11 up. a) We would have got the ball back and b) If Leeds got a penalty near our sticks like they did atleast we would be level on points.

I seem to remember St George employing the same tactics as Leeds against us in the WCC by always leaving our half with points, yes it may be boring but if that's what it takes to win then that's what we should do. I absolutely despise Sinfield and Briers but their kicking games have got their teams out of the shit many a time.

What I don't understand is one of the best thinkers in the game Brett Finch did not think of putting a 1 pointer over until he had no other option and was under pressure, then there's me a thick as mince hooker who thought of it as soon as we went ahead.

[cpwigan]

Perhaps Finch and co were following the instructions/game plan given to them by their coach.

[Owd Codger]

You never see Sinfield shouting at players and lets not follow Latic's supporters by finding a scapegoat.

[Sutty]

David Beckham is one of the most influential and highly thought of England football captains ever. He was far from vocal, on the pitch.
He led by example and was looked up to by the rest of the team.
Kevin Sinfield, Ellery Hanley, Dean Bell, Paul Sculthorpe etc etc. None of them were as vocal as Faz.

[DaveO]

You never see Sinfield shouting at players and lets not follow Latic's supporters by finding a scapegoat.

No one is doing that so I don't know why you mention it. However it is not about shouting. Sinfield and for that matter Briers have mouths on them the size of the Mersey Tunnel when on the pitch. They never shut up and are continually talking to their players and the ref. Finch has been very vocal for us this year and filled a similar role.

[weststand-rich]

I don't think so - at least in the past 3 years we've had a consistent experienced and strong leadership presence on the team.

Despite having mostly consistency this year I think we've lacked big game presence. We've not won Warrington for ages in the league and Leeds have pipped us in both high pressure games this year. Blowing saints away, feels good, but counts for nothing in the big scheme.

I would argue we're a one-dimensional side in 2012. Brilliant and flamboyant when we're on form, scoring tries for fun. But not all games are like that. In the high pressure games you need composure and an attritional stratgey. On a drizzly cold Friday night against Leeds, throwing the ball about was never going to work sans Tomkins. We needed a low percentage error game and a kicking game that applied real pressure.

These aren't Leadership issues, but coaching choices.

[Warriors Forever]

Finch is not a leader, he is a good player but i sit on the very bottom of the west stand and you can clearly hear Finch barking orders out constantly but then every tackle he bounces off tackles, and does some absolutly shocking kicks!