Perhaps next time he should ignore them.

I was discussing this with a few people after the game. I think morrison showed some great touches and some great leadership skills during the game. If we can keep him fit, he would be great for our game and our club.

I believe he will be "2nd in command" on the field behind JD, however id like to see morrison with an equal input on the field as JD. The other scenareo would be for JD To be club captain and morrison to be the on field captain....

whichever way its approached, i think its vital that morrison gets the leadership input that he can offer.

The last 12 months have demonstrated that JD is an outstanding club captain. Leadership has many facets it does and should not be limited to the man wearing the armband. What will another man be capable of doing on the field because he is wearing the armband that JD isn't presently capable? Frankly I can't think of anything. JD brings a touch of class to the example of leadership set at the club - Morrison simply can't do the same job because he has not got JD's track record with the club and the community. Nothing broken - nothing needs fixing BUT I welcome the calibre of leader joining the club that is GM.

Tesco please, thanks

Tesco please, thanks

He doesn't have to be Captain to be either influencial on the field or call the plays.

Brough seems to do ok without the armband and I'm pretty sure Newton will be influencial and he won't have the arm band either.
As long as they all have the same game plan, it shouldn't make any difference.

Much as I think the concept of a "club captain" (rather than the skipper on the pitch) is a ridiculous one, I think we may see it at BV this year. JD has provided a great amount of inspiration & motivational leadership (I still have my doubts about his leadership on the pitch) but I think that if the squad is fully fit he may struggle to make the starting 17.

My first choice for the back row would be Fergie, Johnson & Tesco whilst the centres (JD's best position IMHO) are clearly going to be Gleeson & Millard. On the basis that the bench will have at least 2 props, JD would be competing with Sam, TLL, Morton & Hendo for a place on the bench, with at least one of those places going to Sam or TLL. The 17th man is therefore between Morton, JD & Hendo depending on game plan. Morton probably gives greater flexibility of cover than JD across the back 5, so JD would need the game plan to require back row/centre cover on the bench (he'd obviously get the call above Hendo).

JD will undoubtedly be "club captain", but I think that the armband for each match should be with Tesco.

Now I'll go & wait for the JD worshippers to start shooting at me

to us in York he will be known as Waitrose

I think I'm one of them, although I think worship is a bit strong. BUT I think your assessemtn is very fair.

I see the argument but IMHO JD will always make the 17 due to the fact he can play Centre/2nd Row/LF and at a push could play SO/SH/9......

And for those that wish to ridicule, he played at 6 on several occasions last season

No ridiculing from me, he’s a very dangerous broken field runner, as Wigan found out in 07.

Unfortunately, the JD of 06 & 07 is not the JD we have today. If he was then he'd be my first choice at centre.

Quote ="RDM"Unfortunately, the JD of 06 & 07 is not the JD we have today. If he was then he'd be my first choice at centre.'" No, but he is still a strong runner and topped the tackle bursts for the club (top 5 overall) yet again last season. Also, as Sinfield was randomly the other player when I checked the stats, Demetriou’s compare well to that of Sinfield’s last season (other then goals and kicks). www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Father time may be catching up with him, but he still has a lot to offer the club.

Quote ="RDM"Unfortunately, the JD of 06 & 07 is not the JD we have today. If he was then he'd be my first choice at centre.'" No, but he is still a strong runner and topped the tackle bursts for the club (top 5 overall) yet again last season. Also, as Sinfield was randomly the other player when I checked the stats, Demetriou’s compare well to that of Sinfield’s last season (other then goals and kicks). www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Father time may be catching up with him, but he still has a lot to offer the club.

Quote ="Khlav Kalash"No, but he is still a strong runner and topped the tackle bursts for the club (top 5 overall) yet again last season. Also, as Sinfield was randomly the other player when I checked the stats, Demetriou’s compare well to that of Sinfield’s last season (other then goals and kicks). www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Father time may be catching up with him, but he still has a lot to offer the club.'" Stats against players who aren't competing for the same position aren't necesarily the best comparison. If you change the comparison player to Tesco you'll see that GM played less (15 v JD's 26) but scored twice as many tries and equalled in try assists & made more tackles (and marker tackles) per appearance. Tesco is also marginally better than JD (per game) in terms of errors & missed tackles. I don't dispute that JD still has something to offer, but think that this should be as one of the half dozen competing for a place on the bench (and therefore not necessarily a certainty assuming a fully fit squad) rather than in the starting 13.

Quote ="Khlav Kalash"No, but he is still a strong runner and topped the tackle bursts for the club (top 5 overall) yet again last season. Also, as Sinfield was randomly the other player when I checked the stats, Demetriou’s compare well to that of Sinfield’s last season (other then goals and kicks). www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Father time may be catching up with him, but he still has a lot to offer the club.'" Stats against players who aren't competing for the same position aren't necesarily the best comparison. If you change the comparison player to Tesco you'll see that GM played less (15 v JD's 26) but scored twice as many tries and equalled in try assists & made more tackles (and marker tackles) per appearance. Tesco is also marginally better than JD (per game) in terms of errors & missed tackles. I don't dispute that JD still has something to offer, but think that this should be as one of the half dozen competing for a place on the bench (and therefore not necessarily a certainty assuming a fully fit squad) rather than in the starting 13.

I didn’t go out to compare him to Sinfield, merely he was the other player already on, I thought it was a good comparison with respect to a pivotal player from the best team in the league.

I don’t think Demetriou should automatically obtain a starting spot either, no-one should, but my comments were based on his ability still been one of the best at the club despite his advancing years. Netto is the better player (he’s had a career in the NRL) where as Demetriou worked his way up over here, but that doesn’t take away what he offers as captain, both on the field and off.

I don't think I suggested that you'd made a deliberate choice with Sinfield and I'd agree that he'd be a reasonable comparison in assessing JD's 2009 performance. Comparing JD to Lidl is worthwhile given the thread is discussing the possibility of him being captain.

There's clearly no comparison between the 2 for what they've done for the leadership of the team off the field and that's why I can see JD being appointed "club captain". IMHO Lidl is more likely to be a first team regular and that's why I'd have him as captain on the field.

FWIW I don't agree with the concept of a "club captain" with someone else leading the team out each week. The captain's role comes into it's own on the field and that's why the only captain should be the player who is able to help push the team during the game, both with how they play and how they talk to the players when behind the sticks after conceding a try. It's that last bit that I feel JD could have done more with during his captaincy and there's definitely nothing to lose in giving someone else that responsibility.

I have a sneaking feeling JD won't want to be captain this year and will put the ball back in JK's court.

I would have thought Sam Obst would have been the obvious choice, no disrespect to Tesco but untill i see him give all he's got and then a bit more for Wakey then i would stick with the two above.

Who knows.

I would expect JD to start at loose with Morrison and Fergy in the second row even when everyone is fit.

JD is the captain and is a true leader - by example .. hard work ..endeavour....passion...bleeds red white and blue the players and crowd react to his move.

Morrison for me is a very exciting prospect (at 33!!!!) his skill combined with his obvious quality is something all the guys should look to feed from and aspire to emulate he would make a good captain but I don't see the need to change it.

Think we will make strides this year with the youngsters being a year older but the older heads Morrison - and in particular Newton will give us direction around the park and have been there and have the t shirt

Looking forward to see how we get on....

interesting you see morrison superior to jd in terms of quality, so here are the stats,
JD Morrison
meters 2176 1072
avg- 83.5 p/g 71.4

tackels 738 434
avg 28.3 p/g 28.9

miss tack 58 31
avg p/g 2.23 2.06

tries 3 6
assists 5 5

errors 32 13
avg p/g 1.2 0.86

clean breaks 5 6

tackle bust 88 25

in terms of playing ability its clear their is not alot between the two, and both players are far superior to hendo, fergerson and johnson. it suggest to me that they will be the first two pick in the back row and bare in mind jd played half the season against doctors orders to honour his mate. as far as captain goes jd has the respect of his peers that he has earnt and morrison has yet to earn that. If we want to look at contirbution over the season jd is way ahead an for me my biggest concern about morrison is how many games we will get from him, only time will tell.
I believe morrison will form a good leadrship team with jd brough obst newton, but for mine JD has more than earned the right to lead this club.

Spot on post !!

As per the JD thread.
[url=http://www.therfl.co.uk/superleague/news_item.php?id=16378This information[/url may hone opinion.
I hope both have their best season this year.

i think that if JD is gonna give us a full season then he should remain captain , however i think most off us who post on here will understand that although JD brings a lot to the table that a full season week in week out would be a massive ask.


Sam's time served and has the right attitude however does he have the capabilities off getting the dressing room???

True, i just think he should throw the shackles off and concentrate on playing and enjoy the season.

With the support of JD and Tesco then why not, both of these guys know the score. Sams the only other player who IMO has given everthing he's got [uand a bit extra[/u, thats not taking away from the efforts of most players last season.

Just me view.

To-days WE says that as long as John is coach JD will be club captain.

Quote ="wakeytrin"To-days WE says that as long as John is coach JD will be club captain.'" Looks that way. www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... Clubs.html

Quote ="wakeytrin"To-days WE says that as long as John is coach JD will be club captain.'" Looks that way. www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... Clubs.html