I agree. Not sure if a permanent captain has been named yet but if it is to be McGuire then we should stop sniping and get behind him as he has earned the right for for an extended term.

IMO contenders for captaincy should be 'heads up' players who ideally can kick which, for me, rules out Ablett and Hardaker although the latter has shown some signs of maturing.

Because we have lost both Sinny and JP it will be difficult for any new captain to match this amount of leadership experience and there is an argument to appoint 2 or 3 vice captains to assist who could be a mix of senior players and next generation potential captains.

Hardaker seemed to do a lot of the organising work in defence last year and was a vocal leader but he's not suited to the captaincy role off the pitch or dealing with referees. Maybe a "leadership group" would be best, involving JJB, McGuire, Hardaker, Cuthbertson and Ward, but I'd fully expect McGuire to be official captain next year.

I need to know what you mean by plodder?

If you mean he's not got the pace of a young McGuire or the agility of a Burrows then I concede that he indeed does not. He is pedestrian and due to his build always was and always will be.

However if you are talking about his ability as a RL play maker then you couldn't be more wrong. He's one of the smartest in the game and had we had the technology to sow his head on McGuires body we'd have had a world beater at H/B - but sadly that's not how it works.

Few players in SL is more competent and reliable than Finn. Nearly always finishes with a good last tackle option. Good short and long kicking game. Good hands with the ability to read the game and put the man in the gap. Robust defence. Sadly without the gift of being a true athlete he will never be a superstar and will always be dependant on the players around him to finish what he starts.

However because his game isn't built on physicality he will only get better with age and that will do for me any day of the week, all teams need that kind of player.

So a bit dumpy, quite slow both off the mark and over the distance and clearly not a world beater but a plodder - nah.

sinfield didn't take over a golden generation
Leeds Rhinos team 2003 final
Gary Connolly, Mark Calderwood, Chris McKenna, Keith Senior, Francis Cummins, Kevin Sinfield, Andrew Dunemann, Ryan Bailey, Matt Diskin, Barrie McDermott, Chev Walker, Matt Adamson, David Furner

of that team bailey debuted 2002 calderwood and diskin 2001 , walker 99

mcguire s not a captain

and if he captained a different team he'd be treated like brough and briers

A pair of players with temperaments even more questionable than McGuire's. I can only imagine that fans of their clubs were distraught when they were made captains.

Until both led their clubs to their greatest successes in living memory, that is.

Mcguire hasn't got long left and is only going to be a stop gap Captain until Ward more than likely takes the role long term in 2017 or 2018.Whilst i don't see Mcguire as a natural captain myself, he is still a big link to the golden generation as has been stated and has filled in well when called on to be captain in recent times.I really don't see any issues at all with this only ever being a short term thing.

Why not have a group? McGuire as official captain, but take the pressure off him by giving Hardaker the defensive duties? JJB media duties? Cuthbertson in charge of the forwards? One man cannot fill the void that has been left by JP & kev, AND run the game at halfback with a rookie partner.

Because we have just gone through an era unprecedented with the perfect recipe. Something that would not have happened had we not gone that way.

We are now about to go through a new period with a lot of changes.

The proven model of success is to identify the right long term younger player, with the right qualities, and have that player grow and mature with the team behind him, leading a new period. Stop gaps is just a case of taking the eye off the ball and complacency.

I assume you are referring to ward as the right long term player?

How do you know ward is the right long term player? Do you train with him every day? Play with him every week? Do you even know him?

McD has picked Mags and quite frankly his track record of decisions tends to be that many people question and scratch their heads over some of his calls but when the silver ware gets handed out he has got most of the decisions right over the season.

So how's about you trust the club, trust the coaching staff and trust the players. After all, these are the people that actually know what is going on day to day.

I am not naming any specific player. I said the club should have identified the long term, and that is what they go with. When Hardaker agreed his deal, which was August 2014, he was also told the club wanted him to replace Sinfield for 2017 as long term captain.

A few things happened after that conversation, and of course Sinfield went earlier, which does of course disrupt plans.

For me though, if they thought they were right in what their plans were, they should have stuck to their gut feel, regardless of disruptions. That is what they did for the era we have just had, and at least in my opinion is what they should have repeated.

McGuire as captain is because of other incidents, not because he is the right man for what we need, and a panic move. That is the problem for me. Had McGuire another 10 years in him, and actually demonstrated at any time the ability to motivate and lead his team mates, it would have my 100% support. but been here the longest isn't good enough reasoning for me for such a role. But more importantly, I just think McGuire has a much bigger job on his plate than people realise for his playing role, without the distraction of leading his team mates.

Why is being captain seen as a distraction? I agree mags will be more important than he ever has been but that's not the same thing as not been able to handle it.

When Sinny got the armband he had a lot on his plate in terms of his age been seen as a detriment by many as he was still developing.

All I seem to hear from the anti-mags corner is it shouldn't be him because he is petulant and/or at the end of his career. Every player will have pros and cons but mags has more pros than the rest.

As for Zak I can't comment as I wasn't privy to his contract negotiations. If true then I would be disappointed with any club promising a young player something over two years in the future, there are so many variables as Zak went on to prove.

There isn't an anti Mags corner, and that is a pretty low statement to make. We are talking about the captaincy.

Your last paragraph tells me exactly where you are not picking up on the point made here. It isn't about promises, no player works on that scenario. It is about planning, exactly what they did 15 years back. Identify, promote, support, and work within that. That was what they obviously intended to do for Sinfields succession. If that was the right thing then, why revert to stop gaps? That is the point made.

I agree with you on the variables, and probably those variable might be why we are getting what we are for next year. Me personally though, I just don't think that makes it right.

Absolute rubbish regarding Hardaker being promised the captaincy when he signed a new deal. Yes, Sinfield has gone a year earlier than expected, so that makes McGuire the natural choice for now. Stevie Ward IS the long term captain. 12 months ago he was hell bent on going to Oz. Since then, he's matured immensely as a man, and is also probably the first / second name on the team sheet when fit. He is a very bright lad aswell. Injuries have hampered him slightly, but since he was in the academy, he's always been seen as Sinfield's successor.

Yes and an idea that even Gotcha has backtracked on in the past. The club wouldn't have made any promises/intentions to make someone captain so far away into the future and with other good contenders around and especially with Hardaker's questionable record (including just a few months prior to the time period of signing his new contract that Gotcha states above) with swinging a punch at a Carnegie player and that being the real reason Leeds made him quit the England WC squad.

It's a bit ridicolous that Gotcha is criticising the club for not having a long term plan over captaincy when the club hasn't actually come out and revealed their plans about it. For all he knows Leeds' long term plan was always to go to McGuire for a few years and then Ward, just because he doesn't agree with McGuire being captain doesn't mean that the club hasn't had plans regarding captaincy.

We will do, because we always have done.

Sinfield said in the past how important the likes of Diskin, Senior and JJB were as leaders in the team (as well as Peacock obviously) so he never did it alone and neither will the new captain.

McGuire, Cuthbertson, Ablett, Hardaker, Ward, JJB, Burrow will all be part of the group of leaders in the squad regardless of who has the 'C' next to their name so why people have this idea that McGuire will be leading on his own I don't understand.