I disagree with the first assumption - the Huddersfield game shows what he can do and that is far from an isolated incident - he has dragged this team out of the mire numerous times.

He is passionate and sometimes that gets the better of him but is that such a bad thing? You could pick out the Cas game when Sinfield went in with head or the Leigh game when Peacock went in with his fists both in games when the team was up against it!!

He needs to modified his persona on the pitch especially towards refs - but if "you are ever in a jam, I'm your man" McGuire is the man and he has proved it so many times it is only a matter of time before he does it again.

Rubbish. Are you suggesting the club have changed who will be the captain for the season (and most likely the following season) because ward will miss the early rounds of the coming season? No. If ward was the choice he would be captain with a vice captain named who would pick up the slack at the start of the season.

Luckily the club have more good sense.

I don't understand the McGuire bashing on here. He's gone from support player to arguably a top class halfback. McGuire is no mug. He's won just as much as Sinfield. He's been involved in exactly the same situations as Sinfield. In September/October he was the best player in SL. McGuire's biggest challenge is making things tick with a rookie partner rather than Kev. To do that, Hardaker, Burrow, Cuthbertson etc will have to take up a lot of the slack left by JP & Kev. They are all treble winners. They all know what it takes to get results.

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There are some posters on here - notably Gotcha and Gilder who simply don't rate him. IMO their view is clouded by their opinions on Sinfield and his influence on the team and in their eyes McGuire will never match up. His record is every bit as good as that of Sinfield. I am unsure what're he can do to prove to them what he is capable of.

To say he is not a player his team mates look to get them out of the mire is simply ludicrous - deeds on the pitch give tangible evidence of his influence. His tries scored is unmatched in the modern era and his assists will also not be far off being the best since the inception of SL.

To also suggest virtually any player in the side would make a better captain is equally nuts - what is that opinion based on? When have the likes of Ward/Ablett or Hardaker ever captained the side?

Sinfield was great player but he didn't carry the team on his own - he was surrounded by a core of equally great players - including McGuire - who enabled him to do his stuff, that is too often overlooked on here.

Fair enough.

Where have I said I don't rate him as a player David? You're the one least likely to be impartial in any McGuire discussion given your career-long connection to him, no?

I haven't a single shred of doubt about his ability to produce individual moments of high quality.

What I doubt is that his ability to bring those alongside him up to his level is not up to the same standard as the likes of Sinfield and Peacock. There's a big difference between being able to produce yourself, and getting others around you to produce their best.

If the team is in a hole and they look up to see their captain taking cheap shots at people - and let's not pretend Boxing Day was an isolated incident in the way Sinfield/Dorn was - or flapping around dementedly in the face of the officials, do you think that represents good leadership?

Stop being so precious...

I don't see anybody here "McGuire bashing" in so far as his playing abilities are concerned; rather just his credentials to be a team captain. Many others have aready highlighted/given examples of what is meant by this: suffice to say keep your knickers untwisted.

I would agree with the above, and remember I'm looking from the outside...

As a player, quality on his day, but having lost a little pace with age and injury does not have the impact he once had.. That said, he is more of a head player now, as you would expect from a senior pro, and can still be very influential. The niggly side of his game has gotten worse the last couple of years, maybe realising he can't do the things he once could. Much as i dislike him as a niggly player, he always comes across as a decent and likeable bloke, respected by his team mates, and I'm sure he will have his team mates behind him when needed.

I think he will do fine as captain..

Andy you don't waste an opportunity to point out the flaws you see in his game - would you like me to look back over your posts and pull out some examples? Seldom do you ever give him the credit the quality of his play deserves.

Andy in 2010 he virtually carried the whole team through that season - and at the end of last season it was his ability to drive the team and raise his game to a different level that was a major contributor to the success not the departing captain or prop forward.

His job is not to bring others up to his standard - that is impossible - his job is to make their job easier. Good passing puts a player in space much easier than if you receive a hospital pass - ask JJB how many of them he got from his captain?

What represents good leadership is producing on the field - all well and good being nice to the ref but if you haven't got the skills to create winning opportunities who cares? Plenty of quality players have had a nasty streak in them and were unkind to refs - none worse than Paul Sculthorpe but he more than made up for by his play on the field.

His team mates will respect the impact of the kick at Huddersfield, the pass over the top in the final that created the opening for his second try in the final or his kick that lead to the winning try much more than if he his nice to James Child. A man is judged by his deeds in the heat of battle - on that score McGuire is without equals at Leeds

Agree with this. I can totally understand why other clubs fans see him as petulant but I think that often means they then underrate him as a player. The same is true I think of O'Loughlin with his high tackles.

I also think people far too often conflate a players on-field personality with that of the person as a whole. McGuire and Ablett being 2 in the Leeds team and I think probably Tomkins gets this treatment too.

Having just seen the youtube video of them I think fans approbation and vitriol should really be directed at players like Tim Smith and Kevin Locke.

True. I think in all of this people are judging it solely on what happens on the pitch in the 80 mins played that week, which don't get me wrong is obviously very important. However being the captain of the club is much more than that. Sinfield wasn't just the captain on the pitch, he was the captain in dressing room, the training ground, the pre-season camps away, the media interviews, the other PR stuff...the whole works. Whoever gets the job isn't just the captain of the team, he's the captain of the whole club.

Will McGuire turn out to be a good captain if he gets the job....who knows only time will tell but I'll support the decision in the mean time. And no I don't count him taking over the captains 'armband' on the odd game here and there in last year or two as proper genuine captaincy that we can properly judge on as Sinfield was still the captain of the squad.

Leeds win in the boxing day friendly, Mcguire has a good game carrying on from his outstanding season, and I guess that this thread doesn't even happen...

I have so much respect for Danny McGuire, I'm chuffed that he has been rewarded with the ultimate accolade for a Leeds lad. He has been performing many of the Captain's tasks over the last few years anyway, revving the team up, organising, having a quiet word hear and there, and ultimately leading by example when it really mattered. Mcguire's determination and will to win can sometimes result in anger towards refs and other players, but that is part of who he is and why he has achieved so much. I think he will make a great replacement for Sinny. Good on yer Danny boy.

Leeds should make Ward Captain. Mature beyond his young years.

You're in the minority there, Son. What "credentials" are you banging on about. Sinfield nutted Dorn. Guess he has the wrong "credentials" to be captain, eh? 13 years at the top, he's won everything multiple times, playing in a key position, and he doesn't have the "credentials." On your own there

The only way to find out if Maguire is up to the job is to give him a run at it. The same applies to the other potential candidates. I'm happy to trust in the judgement of GH and BM and get behind who ever they decide to give the captaincy to. I find it decidedly unedifying to read attacks on the suitability of a great servant of the Rhinos on here.

This ^^^

McGuire deserves a shot to prove himself and if BM and GH decide to give him his chance we should all be backing that.

Next year is going to be a huge learning curve for everyone involved. There will inevitably be mistakes along the way, and I'm sure it'll take more than one season to get things right. But back to McGuire, in my opinion no one deserves their chance more than him in the team.

Couldn't agree more. IMHO, he's been the most important player for a few years now. The best player of the 'golden generation'.

He's been organising and running the team round the park for the last few years, it's odd that some haven't noticed.

Exactly.

These same critics were after McGuire early last season and look how he proved them wrong. Nobody is perfect and Sinfield's has left uniquely large shoes to fill. But Danny deserves time to settle into the job without constant carping from the members of the 'Keyboard Tappers and Grunters Club' who should have learnt from the being proven to be so wrong by Brian Mac.

and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all.

hardakers the most important and only one we can't cover

See the opinion police are out again. Happy off-season.

Andy - nobody is more forceful of their own opinion and dismissive of anyone who dares to challenge it than you. So I am not sure what your point here is?

Maybe you need an "opinion nurse" for your battered ego, give it a little massage maybe. It's a forum where 99% of people will have an opinion, yours is no better or worse than anyone else's. Most people just don't agree with you, doesn't mean they're "policing" you.

Wow. You spend more time on here shooting others down than any other poster and by a long way, you chuffing hypocrite. It's only when others have a dig back that you start throwing around the "opinion police" bollards.

Happy New Year.