I think you're confusing me with PONNER.

Yet the first 4 didn't have to continually name him as captain, yet they did, and the last 3 continually selected him for England/GB.


Seriously? A Huddersfield fan? And you have the nerve to mock another team for having a mid-season dip?


So nobody has qualifications except you? I would imagine a decent percentage of the RLFans membership has played or coached at some point, I also played and continue to coach.

I played, been watching for 23 years, coached/coaching service area,scholarship,Yorkshire, club and full time job, 10 years...I think Sinfield is outstanding!

What about Wally Lewis who voted for Sinfield in the Golden Boot comp a few years back and pleaded with the English coaching setup to build a team around him? Was he also brainwashed by the British media into his opinion of Sinfield?

There is no way Leeds would have won either the 2011 or 2012 titles without Sinfield in the team and captaining them. He has single handedly changed the destination of the last two SL titles. If you can't see what Sinfield does to inspire and lead his team and dictate play then I can only worry for the teams coached by you.

Sam Burgess was on telly saying it was a good decision.

Well that s it then. Case closed!

Seriously though, just because some don't agree with it, doesn't mean they are wrong does it? How many votes for different things in your lifetime has gone against your own vote? That doesn't make them wrong.

PS. imho I don't think he should of won it.

Dreadful decision orchestrated by the Yorkshire mafia controlling dedicated RL media in Britain. Sinfield is a very nice bloke and a decent player. GB? No! MOS, his peeers did not and have never recognised Kevin as the MOS. So at the age of 32, his peers have never awarded him the ultimate accolade. Yet, the Yorkshire media and some Yorkshire supporters seemingly know better.

Cameron Smith IMO was far more deserving. The ultimate contest in RL is Origin. Queensland are enjoying a record breaking domination of a true elite contest led series after series by Cam Smith. Smith plays in the elite domestic competition and is routinely recognised as the best 9 in Australia and accross the world. To lead the Storm to such a successful season after the club has had to be rebuilt and deal with the loss of several world class players.

British RL ought to be ashamed.

Perhaps the GB should have been terminated when Addidas pulled out

I daresay Sinfields peers knew nothing either when they did not award him MOS

My, my. What lovely green eyes you have dear.

I guess when you see unfairness you just stand back and applaud.

Top bloke

Tee hee.

It's funny because you're probably a Wiganer

Nah i just love listening to the aussies whinge. And when Sports commentators on the telly here say "who is this Kevin Sinfield anyway" actually says more about them than anything.

Absolutely nothing wrong with people having a different choice for best player. Its the anger, dismay and 'its embarrassing the sport' crowd that are tragic. If people think someone else should've won it then ok, but they dont need to OTT slate Sinfield for it (especially when he didn't exactly pick himself).

It's their magazine, they can pick who they like. If people honestly feel that strongly about it (which they dont, they just like to whine) then boycott the magazine or start your own.

See above...

It's funny how the Yorkshire Mafia have nominated a bloke from Lancashire as the best player in the world. It's easy to forget sometimes that Leeds Rhinos are led by someone who just so happened to be born in Oldham.

I find it hilarious that you go from claiming that the MOS is the ultimate accolade, only to then go on to sing the praises of [iThe ultimate contest[/i (I agree) which is the state of origin. Going by your logic doesn't that make Man of the Series the ultimate accolade that players can win?

Unfortunately because of where he is born Kevin Sinfield is excluded from appearing in rugby leagues greatest spectacle and if you was in charge (thankfully not) no one from England would ever win the Golden Boot unless god forbid an English born player as good as Kevin claimed residency after living down under for a number of years.

Cameron Smith has had a good year but Kevin Sinfield has had a better one. Both players can only play with what they've got on the rugby field and both have performed in matches when it mattered in their respective countries last year. Only Kevin Sinfield has performed better and his record in the play offs speak for itself. Yes Kevin was on the losing side in the challenge cup but that was one final lost out of three finals that he played in last year. Cameron Smith in comparison only gets to play in one final for his club and was once on the losing side in the state of origin.

Do we automatically start excluding Cameron Smith from the Golden Boot nominations because he didn't play in the world club challenge? The Yorkshire Mafia in your eyes probably have done just that this year and will do for many years to come



Actually forget what I've just wrote above. You wouldn't have the Golden Boot all together because it's no longer sponsored by Adidas. Well going by your logic we should drop rugby league all together because we're no longer as a sport able to produce players that are good enough to be associated with Adidas in the shape of a sponsored golden boot

I hope the job hunting is going well (sincerely meant BTW)

Open Rugby was a fantastic publication with a genuine zeal for international RL. Harry Edgar puts the likes of Sadler / Drake to shame. The GB / Lavish sponsorship was Edgar inspired. A golden era in British RL with events such as the WCC reborn / relaunched. I understand this may be difficult for you to comprehend Damo given your age etc.

Where a player was born is immaterial. Do you honestly think Kevin Sinfield is primarily recognised for his Oldham roots or his deeds with Leeds.

Just as Ellery will always be associated with Wigan despite his Yorkshire background.

I like many people like awards to be given in a just and fair manner. It matters not what the awards is. It seems as if Leeds fans and Sadler/Drake have been taken aback by the awarding of the GB. Erm or did they just expect everybody to accept such a decision because it simply went to a British / SL player.

Nobody can deny SURELY

1) The NRL is a superior competition to SL.

2) State of Orgin is the ultimate modern day elite RL contest

On that basis the man who has been at the heart of the greatest Origin domination in its history. A domination that surpasses Maroon teams that included the likes of Lewis, Meninga, Miles et al, the man who saw his club ripped apart then rebuilt to have a fantastically consistent season to finish 2nd and to then win the GF, the man that captained his country to victory over the next best RL nation, NZ, the man recognised by his peers as the world best in his position is far more deserving of the award than Kevin Sinfield.

Kevin Sinfield is a very nice person, a very talented RL player in lesser competition than the NRL. He is a Leeds legend BUT his peers (the people who know best) never recognise him as the best in SL or the best player in his position be it LF or SO. The raison detre it seems for orchestrating this lunacy was so John Drake could have his photo taken presenting the GB. We then had to drag the game into a kicking % contest to try to justify the farce. Oh less we forget England beat Wales and France. Imagine had they had to play NZ and/or Australia. Lets get it right come the old and/or the wet then Kevin Sinfield makes an immense contribution kicking a RL ball. Dry weather, the majority of the season, Wembley where was Kevin Sinfield GB sp Damo i know you love your club but the whole season, NO. Smith does it week in week out. Sinfield does it in the play offs in a mediocre domestic competition. Plenty think Wigan screwed up big time even allowing for the absence of Sam Tomkins but if you want to believe Kevin Sinfield is the best player in the world, you may find a bus waiting outside to take you somewhere for help.

The players do not think Kevin Sinfield is the best player in SL let alone the world. Leeds fan can huff and puff. The Yorkshire media led by Drake & Sadler can pretend otherwise BUT the people who know tell the truth (the players) rather than quote Big Jim Slade off an internet forum. How demeaning was that for a so call publisher to stoop so low.

I think RL professionals are more credible than Drake, Sadler & Big Jim Slade



I admire Kevin Sinfield. He is a fantastic professional and a great club captain for his club. Alas being nice and being successful in SL does not equate to being the best RL player in the world.

If RL professional players decide Brett Hodgson or Rangi Chase are deserving of an award then why not. You seem to think you (Mr anonymous internet forum user) are far better suited to deciding such accolades. Failing that a few media hacks



Worse you try to demean Cameron Smith. I daresay Queensland cheated their way to a record breaking Origin successive wins too or that Origin is not the Elite competition in world RL. Again, a player repeatedly chosen as one of the best XIII and best No 9 in the World by his peers rather than by Drake, Sadler and Big Jim Slade

William / AP etc, you're to transparent to carry off yet another username. The same old tedious agenda.

Nobody else. A Fylde Wigan Warriors supporter.

I believe you. And the only thing in the entire history of Rugby League that has ever riled you sufficiently to join rlfans and contribute your entire catalogue of posts is Kevin Sinfield winning the Golden Boot. That's entirely plausible

Whilst I'm not particularly knowledgeable on what happened to the Open Rugby magazine, I'm going to assume that Harry Edgar and his magazine didn't adapt to the times. As far as I'm aware when Super League came around Rupert Murdoch's money was a lifeline to top flight rugby league and to this day it still is. It's not perfect but it allows the likes of Kevin Sinfield to showcase his skills.

Now the NRL I agree is a superior competition to Super League but the two competitions can easily be paralleled in some cases. For example Cameron Smiths Melbourne Storm demolished some teams this year in the NRL just like Wigan demolished some teams including Kevin Sinfields very own Leeds Rhinos. However I'm sure you'll agree that it's performing when it matters what really counts and that's where this debate needs to stay.

The Man of Steel is awarded for performances in the regular rounds and Kevin Sinfield hasn't had to perform much in them but neither have half a dozen players in Super League. However I'm sure somewhere we can find Kevin Sinfield's peers appreciating what the Leeds captain does when it comes to whats widely acknowledged as the business end of the season. If Man of Steel was voted for after the play offs then I'm positive that Kevin would have won it by now. However this will never happen because there's already uproar among some fans who think that the super league regular rounds are pointless because the Rhinos can win it from fifth. Awarding Man of Steel at the very end of the season would only add fuel to this fire!

I agree that Cameron Smith is an amazing player and has been amazing this year but lets put things into even more prospective. The State of Origin is Australia's premier RL contest and the Super League Play Offs is Europe's premier contest. Kevin Sinfield's team was unbeaten in in the SL play offs but the same can't be said with Cameron Smiths team in the State of Origin. If Cameron Smith led such a dominant side then Queensland would have won this years series 3 - 0. In fact Cameron Smith's team would have finished number one going by your logic that he's better than Sinfield. But the thing is the players are neck and neck when it comes to comparing them. Both have been on the losing side this year in big games.

Regarding Kevin Sinfield missing in the challenge cup - the same could be said for Cameron Smith in that second state of origin game. The Challenge Cup final is only played once but I'm sure that if it was played three times then there's a good chance Leeds would have the challenge cup this year. Well Leeds Rhinos did after all win two out of three finals in 2013. I guess we will never know how Leeds would have performed in three Challenge Cup finals in 2012 but my two out of three final wins point is as good as any.

Then of course there's the 2012 RLIF World Team of the Year. I'm not sure who votes for that but going by your logic Ryan Hall shouldn't be in this squad if he doesn't play in the NRL. I'm sure that both Kevin Sinfield and Ryan Hall would do very well in the NRL but I guess we will never know. All we can do it guess and compare them to the current English Exiles currently playing rugby league in the NRL. Take James Graham for example who was voted into last years world best squad in the world, it wasn't too long ago that Jammer was playing for St Helens and we all know how Leeds Rhinos along with Wigan Warrirors ripped the Saints apart in consecutive grand finals.

As far as I can gather your argument seems to be that the NRL is better than Super League and that's the end of the argument. I'm sorry it's not as simple as that just as it's not as simple to award Kevin Sinfield the GB for having a 100% goal kicking record in the play offs compared Cameron Smiths not so 100% kicking record in the NRL play offs. Kevin Sinfield is a better kicker than Cameron Smith and kicking is a part of our sport whenever you like it or not. Whats the excuse for Camerons kicking - did he have competition with the much tougher Australian climate? Is the English climate more favorable towards kickers?


If thinking that Kevin Sinfield is the best player in the world is associated with special buses waiting outside somewhere to take me for help then so be it. This is an opinion thing after all and I'm standing by this one all the way!



Finally I'm not a big fan of the current media situation in European rugby league due to very personal reasons. It is like a mafia in a sense but not in the sense that your alluding to IMO!

And for me comments like this is the downfall of RLFANs at times. To dismiss all that Fylde_Warrior has said in this thread with two short sentences and labeling his argument as the [isame old tedious agenda[/i is poor form IMO. I'm convinced that Fylde_Warrior is William/AP too but this isn't the point.

At the end of the day this said poster is as much part of this community as anyone else is and he deserves a lot more than just to be dismissed as someone with a tedious agenda. I'd love to see John Drake and Martyn Sadler get into a debate with Fylde_Warrior on this thread but it probably won't happen.

If it did happen then we're in for one hell of a show

Really? Weren't people complaining last year that Tomkins missed out on MOS because some of his peers weren't keen on some of his antics? I imagine some players have voted for mates and ignored others based on personal feelings in the past.


Yet it's ok for you tell us all that Cameron Smith should've won it whilst being adamant that Sinfield shouldn't have just because you don't agree with it???


Again....yet it's ok for you and others to demean Sinfield? Apart from that one reference to Melbourne's salary cap breaking, people who do agree with Sinfield winning it haven't tried to strengthen their argument by downplaying the efforts of Smith, instead just focusing on the positive attributes of Sinfield.


So you're going to ignore the seasons when Leeds finished 1st ('04, '09) and 2nd ('03, '05, '07, '0icon_cool.gif to downplay Sinfield again? Before you say the award is about the 2012 season only try reading back your comments about Smith being ROUTINELY recognised as the best 9 in the world and overseeing a PERIOD OF DOMINANCE with Queensland to enhance your argument.


Why?
Let's look at British sport then. It's biggest sport that gathers the most media attention is football. A sport that has recently seen...
- Fans run onto pitches and attack players and throw objects at them.
- A player refusing to come on as a subsitute in what is labelled the elite club competition in the sport, and then welcomed back into the team because of his skill not his attitude.
- Players engineer moves away to bigger clubs by sulking.
- Several racist incidents including a referee being falsely accused by a player.
- A manager sacked mere months after leading his team to the elite club trophy.

Rugby League's crime? Honouring a player who is going to go down as one of the best captains of all time, a role model off the pitch, a guy who is described as a great leader, one who has succeeded through extreme hard work and dedication, a record points scorer for both his 1 club and in SL history, winner of 6 GF's and 3 WCC's and twice Harry Sunderland winner??? The complete opposite of shameful IMO. It should be a great example to any sports person of what they can achieve in their particular sport if you're prepared to work hard enough even if they're more naturally skillful people out there.

The thing to be ashamed about is that some fans slate the sport so badly and then will complain that we don't attract enough fans, hardly surprising when any potential new fans will just keep hearing about how rubbish and inferior everything is about British RL from the people who already follow it.

I'm still baffled how anyone can argue Sinfield was the best individual player on the planet in 2012.

As I said earlier in this thread, in 2012 Leeds lost 11 regular season games and the CC final - that's 12 out of 36 competitive games, or 1/3 exactly. They were spanked by Saints and Wigan, barely showed up in the CC final and stuttered through the league fixtures, only securing 5th place by means of superior points difference over Hull.

This Golden Boot has been awarded primarily for the play-off run, which for me consisted of 1 average win at a blown-out Wakefield and 3 strong wins: the mammoth effort at Catalans, the tight win at Wigan (by virtue of an awful penalty against Hansen), and a strong performance in the final against a poor Warrington. I do wonder whether if Clare Balding had been a little more restrained in her adoration of King Kev and if he'd not been knocked senseless whether his star would have risen quite so high. An average season engrained in the history books by 3 good wins.

However, it's also been awarded for a successful career and his role in Leeds' success. Yes, he's a great leader, a great kicker and a credit to Leeds and RL - but the best player in the world in 2012? Not a chance. He's effective, yes, but as someone else said on this thread, watch him carefully and you'll see plenty of errors and that's before you spot his blatant niggling and moaning. Yes, other players are also guilty of this but they've not just been awarded the dodgiest Golden Boot in history.

I'd like to see a montage of his best 2012 moments against some of the other nominees and let's see who is actually most impressive. Getting knocked out and a load of kicks vs some of Barba's or Tomkins' genius, or Smith's doggedly brilliant consistency? Remember, he's supposed to be THE best player, in the world, of 2012. For me there are better players who weren't even short-listed.

He's a great player and as a fan of British RL it's superb to see one of our own winning it again. But it's hard to honestly justify. If the Golden Boot was a lifetime award then absolutely yes - but it isn't.

I don't think there's a single award in any field that is always won on absolutely strict, unvarying criteria. Look at the Oscars in the film world. John Wayne famously won 'best actor' in 1969 and everyone acknowledged then ( and now ) that this was a sort-of lifetime achievement award. This year critics are pointing out that lead-role actresses like Helen Hunt are being put forward for 'best support' because it's easier to win that category.

If you want purity of thought and deed best enter a monastery.