Wallaby Captaincy

[Train Without a Station]

Just watch any game of Genia's since about 2011. That'll give you plenty of examples of his petulance.

 

[BDA]

I think at heart Genia is a leader. He does a lot of talking on the field, even without the C next to his name, and is pretty fiery and opinionated. If you put him in the starting side he is going to take a leadership role whether its official or not. I like that about him, but he does have some bad traits too, including a tendency to boss and criticise the players around him. I wouldn't have him as the captain.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Agree that Will is a natural leader on the field, but I've seen him spit the dummy far too often to be captain though. I think it has to go to someone with a calmer demeanour than him.

 

[Scrubber2050]

generally speaking, in most rugby teams the game or plays within the game is "controlled" by the half and/or 10. Therefore Genia and QC (Quade Cooper) do the on-field carrying out of the Coaches gameplan.

The Captain should have a level head in stressful situations.

 

[Quick Hands]

Wasn't in general a go at you, just people bang on that Hooper 'Captained' the Tahs to the Super Tital. Like he was some kind of stand out captain. He was in fact just a stand in for the real boss.

He is our Captain, for now and the end of season tour at least. By middle of next year he might be the obvious choice.

Although the fact is that Michael Hooper captained the Waratahs to win the super rugby title. In fact from almost the moment he took over they went from being a good team who looked like making the top 4, to a really good team who looked like they could win it. The two may or may not be related, but I think it's fair enough when people say Michael Hooper can't inspire his players and blame him for the Wallabies woes, to point out that he did captain a team which won a fairly decent competition.

As Braveheart noted above, the captaincy job is much easier when there's a whole lot of leaders in the team. Think 91 RWC, whenever Farr-Jones went off or didn't play, the team hardly missed a beat because it was full of leaders.

 

[Brendan Hume]

Were they great teams because of a great captain, or were they great captains because of a great team?

Certainly Eales didn't inherit a great team - Wallabies circa 1996 were a mess under Greg Smith. I don't recall when McCaw came to the captaincy, but he too was with an AB's side that wasn't consistently winning against England or Wallabies in the early 2000's.

 

[Braveheart81]

Although the fact is that Michael Hooper captained the Waratahs to win the super rugby title. In fact from almost the moment he took over they went from being a good team who looked like making the top 4, to a really good team who looked like they could win it. The two may or may not be related, but I think it's fair enough when people say Michael Hooper can't inspire his players and blame him for the Wallabies woes, to point out that he did captain a team which won a fairly decent competition.

We'd already won four in a row and were heading towards a 5th against the Brumbies when Dennis did his knee.

I thought the biggest win of the regular season was the one against the Chiefs where Dennis scored a crucial try to help seal the win. That for me was the game where we really became a favourite.

Hooper certainly ably led the Tahs in the final rounds but I don't think there was really any great change to the Tahs in terms of momentum or performance after Dennis' injury.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Although the fact is that Michael Hooper captained the Waratahs to win the super rugby title. In fact from almost the moment he took over they went from being a good team who looked like making the top 4, to a really good team who looked like they could win it. The two may or may not be related, but I think it's fair enough when people say Michael Hooper can't inspire his players and blame him for the Wallabies woes, to point out that he did captain a team which won a fairly decent competition.

As Braveheart noted above, the captaincy job is much easier when there's a whole lot of leaders in the team. Think 91 RWC, whenever Farr-Jones went off or didn't play, the team hardly missed a beat because it was full of leaders.

If there is too many chiefs there may not be enough Indians. Would hate to see a tribe of Chiefs only

 

[Braveheart81]

If there is too many chiefs there may not be enough Indians. Would hate to see a tribe of Chiefs only

Part of being a good leader is knowing your place and your role.

Great Wallaby teams full of potential captains never had an issue with too many chiefs.

 

[Train Without a Station]

I've always thought a good leader speaks when he has something to say, a poor leader speaks because he thinks he has to say something

 

[Ruggo]

Not really my point, yes Slipper was probably the only other option, but Hooper had just captained the the Tahs to the title.

I still think it was the right choice

Now next year who knows, Pocock? I doubt if he will ever get near his previous level, he hasn't played for how long?



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Yeah but Hooper slipped into the Tahs captaincy like he did the Wallaby 7 though. Got lucky due to serious injury of his competitor.

He may be a title winning Tahs captain on paper but don't forget he only finished off the season and Dennis is the true driver of that seasons leadership effort.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Part of being a good leader is knowing your place and your role.

Great Wallaby teams full of potential captains never had an issue with too many chiefs.

Because the potential captains followed the Captain - AND they were probably the top players as well.

 

[Bairdy]

Expendable they said.
Fostered team disharmony they said.

Give the armband back to Horwill and appoint Hooper and Slipper as VCs

 

[Scrubber2050]

I don't think James Horwill will ever be captain again. Ewen dumped the bloke and would have to eat some pie AND he won't do that.

It also seems to me and others that Link is just looking to replace him. Carter has not gone that well in last 4 tests, Horwill started last game (went OK) but was still relegated to the pine - go figure !!!!

 

[Quick Hands]

Yeah but Hooper slipped into the Tahs captaincy like he did the Wallaby 7 though. Got lucky due to serious injury of his competitor.

He may be a title winning Tahs captain on paper but don't forget he only finished off the season and Dennis is the true driver of that seasons leadership effort.

Not sure about that. Go to the Waratahs 2014 thread and you'll see that Dennis copped a fair amount of criticism for his captaincy - much the same sort of criticism that Hooper is now getting.

These continued attempts to delegitimise Hooper are quite mind boggling.

 

[Ruggo]

Nah the man love and the teflon shield around the bloke are what is mind boggling.

Not saying he isn't a good footballer but he isn't the messiah that he has been built up to be.

 

[qwerty51]

Not sure about that. Go to the Waratahs 2014 thread and you'll see that Dennis copped a fair amount of criticism for his captaincy - much the same sort of criticism that Hooper is now getting.

These continued attempts to delegitimise Hooper are quite mind boggling.

Bullshit. Dennis' criticism was whether was a certain starter. I don't remember anyone saying his captaincy was poor and I didn't think so.

 

[cyclopath]

Nah the man love and the teflon shield around the bloke are what is mind boggling.

Not saying he isn't a good footballer but he isn't the messiah that he has been built up to be.

[Mini-rant begins]
Captaincy aside for a minute, what's more mind-boggling is the shit that gets slung his way by a select few (not you, by the way), despite the plaudits he receives from players / coaches / journos alike - for the large part clearly groups of people who would have no idea. I mean idiots calling for him to be dropped back to club rugby while we get a "proper" openside in. Read the front page any day of the week for the regular peanut gallery. To me, that is more mind-boggling than whoever might have "man-love" for him, whoever that is.
What is interesting, among the calls for him to have the captaincy removed (and I'd be happy to see someone else in the role, if.........), very few provide a cogent argument as to an alternative, from the players we have available. This is the real problem - viable options. Most mentioned in passing in this thread are injured / future form unknown / currently not being selected at all / unlikely to play more than 50-60 minutes. The ABs or Saffers could choose from 2 or 3 each easily.
/[Mini-rant over].

 

[Quick Hands]

Bullshit. Dennis' criticism was whether was a certain starter. I don't remember anyone saying his captaincy was poor and I didn't think so.

Really? Although I do recall that you were one of Dennis' staunchest defenders, labelling anyone who dared to criticise him a hater.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Cyclo get with the program. The best thing any player can do for his reputation and legacy, is not play for the wallabies.