In peoples opinions what has been the best Captaincy Position not only for the Eels but for the majority of successful Rugby League teams over the years? In my personal opinion it would have to be number 9. Steve Edge was a great captain and leader of the successful Eels era and also Cameron Smith has been a tremendous leader for the Storm, Qld and Australia in the position of number 9. I know that Captaincy is a special quality not all footballers possess but I also tend to think the position on the field of the captain is also of some importance. Im not of the new school thought of multi captaincies or dual captaincy on field at the same time.
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In terms of a position 9, 7, 6 or 1 as they are positions of influence.
However leaders are born and as such the man is the most important. Man ah is a great club man but doesn't inspire
Remember the Steelers had a great leader in Ian Macindoe and he was a winger
Also the best player is not necessarily a captain.
We don't have a leader of men in my opinion. We don't have a James Graham like player that inspires. Of the current crop and knowing we need a skipper I would choose Gutho as we don't have a better option.
IMO we don't have a leader
Well said Webby.
In the absence of a true leader of men I have been banging on about Taka being Captain for ages because he is competitive and has footy smarts.
Gutho is still learning the game but one of our most talented.
Captain should be a person the team respects and one who the refs will show respect to.
One of ther biggest mistakes most businesses will make is to promote their "best" person Eg, best salesman, best footy player (get my drift?) to higher levels instead of promoting the person who is best suited to lead.
cam smith 1st daylight 2nd
I personally don't see Captaincy being related to position. I see it as someone that demonstrates leadership on the field, someone that drives and inspires others to perform at their best, someone wo digs in when things get tought and leads the way, someone that challenges others to dig deep whilst doing it themselves. Importantly the Captain needs also to stand up for their team and be able to interact and challenge referees in a manner that is no damaging but effective. It also need to be a player that has maximum time on the field. Just my thoughts.
and how do you know that, Doc?
In my opinion best captains are middle 3rd playes, 80 minute players and natural leaders. Im not a fan of duel or multiple captains. So I would look at either a hooker, halfback or a 80 minute lock.
So I think this is a really big problem for us if Gutherson is going to be captain.
Fullbacks are out of the line for most of the time in defence so by they can't talk to the referee on the run. We saw when Jarryd Hayne was captain and playing fullback, quite a number of times, he'd run forward to have a word to the ref but by the time he got there, the play had already re-started.
If the club sees Gutherson as its long-term leader, then I really think it has to be taken into consideration when they decide on what his best long-term position is going to be.
I agree, hooker is the ideal position because they are always around the ball and defend in the middle as well, so they can be constantly in the referees ear. They can pick up the ball and slow down play, or dictate the flow of the game. And it's a natural leadership position as well, so it flows onto the captaincy role.
One of the halves next, and then I think it drops off. Don't like forwards because they come on and off the field.
It would be an interesting stat ( if someone was willing to research) the position of captaincy in relation to the success of winning teams in the modern and pre modern era of Rugby League. I think that the number 9 ( hooker) would be in the top 3 if not number 1.