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cpwigan wrote:A captain was historically far more important than he is now. Such was the importance that very sometimes the role was combined into a captain/coach role.

Sorry totally disagree; a captain is more important than ever.. He is more involved in decision making than ever.. The modern game is bigger fitter and faster with decisions having to be made very quickly and some times no time to consult with off field members... Every little stone must be unturned in this modern game and that includes many many sports.. A captain is vital to lead from the front in every way and that includes tactical decision making..

A great leader can win wars…

It was said that if the Germans had combined our soldiers with their generals then that would lead to an invisible army.

Nope a good captain in the modern game is vital

Historically the captain made decisions but now I am convinced he makes far less. With the advent of game plans, many decisions are pre determined on the training pitch. Communications/signalling is far much easier tday than in the past allowing decisions to be communicated more readily.

What decisions are we talking about? Ellery was our captain for example but Gregory and Edwards called the moves etc etc. So in effect the generals were not the captain.

cpwigan wrote:Historically the captain made decisions but now I am convinced he makes far less. With the advent of game plans, many decisions are pre determined on the training pitch. Communications/signalling is far much easier tday than in the past allowing decisions to be communicated more readily.

What decisions are we talking about? Ellery was our captain for example but Gregory and Edwards called the moves etc etc. So in effect the generals were not the captain.

I take on board your point and see it also that way...

My original point is that a captain can instil confidence, he can motivate players. he can tell players to get their act together and yes he can call plays. We all know the saying lead by example.

I think the captain and senior players are very important in leading by example off the pitch as regards training and lifestyle.

stand up captain lol stand up comiden

What do people think of Sinfield as a Captain?? my opinion would be he is a OK club player not international class to his credit he has won the SL the last two years but does anyone think that was down to his captaincy or the players he had around him ?? one other thing would he make a difference here I very much doubt it .

GeoffN wrote:
So who would you suggest? IMO, it has to be someone who's on the field for the full 80 minutes (unless we go back to dual captaincy), which rules out the rest of the forwards.
Of the backs, the only candidate that seems viable is Richards, and I think a winger is too far from the action to fulfil the role adequately.

For me it is a two part question.

Who should not be captain? Easy answer, Lockers.

Who should be captain? Harder to answer but that does not mean Lockers should keep the captaincy if as I believe it is detrimental to his game.

If there is no obvious choice then the answer who should be captain is simple. Richie Mathers!

It is obvious when you think about it.

He can't get any worse (so the bureden of captaincy has no effect) yet he is one of the most vocal players on the pitch. It would also mean Lockers is not captain and IMO him not being captain would improve his game.

If as CPW says captaincy is so unimportant there is another reason to give it to Mathers and free up Lockers to play his game.

Jokes aside I really do think if Lockers was not captain he would be a better player for us.

Dave

Captaincy on the field Dave.

Off the field it is more important.

Sounds strange but it is not. I was brought up in a family of sports captains and it flowed naturally to me. Most people would say it is because I have a foghorn. However, one of the keys IMO is the ability to treat every player in the squad / team exactly the same and really make them feel wanted. Unity and a sense of belief, drive, determination are paramount. Saying all that. Any captain is somewhat reliant on his coach/manager enhancing that philosophy. If he is damaging that effort then no captain is ever going to work a miracle.

Remember, a game last 80 minutes. The preparation for that games last 5 days or more. It is what you do in that time that dictates how you do in the 80!

Winning starts on Monday (well it used to) - J.Gibson

cpwigan wrote:Captaincy on the field Dave.

Off the field it is more important.

Sounds strange but it is not. I was brought up in a family of sports captains and it flowed naturally to me. Most people would say it is because I have a foghorn. However, one of the keys IMO is the ability to treat every player in the squad / team exactly the same and really make them feel wanted. Unity and a sense of belief, drive, determination are paramount. Saying all that. Any captain is somewhat reliant on his coach/manager enhancing that philosophy. If he is damaging that effort then no captain is ever going to work a miracle.

Remember, a game last 80 minutes. The preparation for that games last 5 days or more. It is what you do in that time that dictates how you do in the 80!

Winning starts on Monday (well it used to) - J.Gibson

I don't agree at all.

It may be RU but I am involved in my sons U15 team and the thing they lacked last week when they lost to a team who I believe were interior individually but better organised was a leader on the pitch.

When it went wrong the coach could do nothing. It was down to the captain to tell the defensive line to line up and the forwards to stop standing back etc. Our captain is as bad as Lockers in that regard.

The coach could not do it. He wasn't on the pitch!

I think this is true at any level of a team sport but especially either code of rugby both of which are organised games if you get my drift.

We need a coach off the pitch and we need a leader on it and until we get both (we have neither IMO) we will not be successful.

I like Lockers as a player but not as a captain. I'd love to se him relieved of the responsibility and out in the 2nd row.

Dave

It is totally different at pro level. Remember Lockers was an incredibly successful junior captain, he's even in the Guiness Book of Records.

Hope you are not the coach but tell the coach it is the full back who should be 'barking' instructions to the defence. Not the captain. Likewise in RL.