That's a step in the right direction. Can't help thinking that dropping him would give him more of a kick up the ar$e than a cup of tea and a chat.

problem is he wont drop the captain. Can't help thinking we'd look better with sykes/jeffries combo. with morro back menzies could move to which would have other benefit of eliminating defensive weakness we have down sykes/sheriffes side of the pitch. apart from first five minutes deacs was poor on sunday and majority of the goals sykes would have got so its hard to justify keeping selecting him.

It certainly had the desired effect on Steve himself during his playing days.

tbh Deacon has been coasting on his reputation for a long time now. a lot has been made of his 8 goals on Sunday, but Sykes would have made at least 6 of those. take the captancy off him and drop him to the reserves. we've got morrison back next week so let him captain the side for the rest of the year. we might improve with someone on the field who can actually lead

Personally I don't think Deacon is coasting on his reputation at all. If anything I think he's giving 100%. It's just that injuries and age are catching up with him.

Well which ever way you want to look at it he's not deserving, what seems to be, the guaranteed starting spot he seems to have.

I really think it'd shake the team up if mcnamara took away the captaincy from deacon and dropped him down to the reserves. a "if i can do it to him, I can do it to any of you" sort of statement.

it'd be a ballsy move and it might pay off big time. won't happen as ballsy moves are not mcnamara's strong point

I'd go along with that, and just add I think Deacs got the captaincy thru' sheer longevity of service rather than his leadership qualities.

Oh without a doubt on that point

Hmmm. Can we really presume what Deacs leadership qualities are like from the terraces? Obviously we can only speculate given that we're not on the field or close to the players.

I'd say his poorer performances are down to him carrying injuries, getting slower and playing with teammates of lesser ability than in previous years.

I can't fault his commitment. Recently he's taken a lot of very heavy knocks recently yet soldiered on. I do wonder if he's quick enough now and whether he can take that punishment for much longer safely.

At the moment our halfbacks aren't the threat we need to be serious contenders. Jeffries can be great but is too inconsistent. Deacon is looking like a player with his best days behind him. I hope we'd strengthen in this area in the close season.

I'd agree with pretty much all that. Especially the last paragraph.

Id also suggest a small point - that the regular heavy hits have led to him occationaly focusing too much on any potential impending collision rather than focusing on what he's going to do next with ball in hand, thats just an assumption mind, I could be very wrong - but I'd swear I've seen this hesitation a fair few times this season just before he gets clattered and it alters his timing just enough to be a problem IMO. Its a perfectly natural reaction to the punishment he's recieved over the years and recently, but it doesn't help his game.

I agree with much that is being said in this thread, but not the reasoning behind Deacon's selection as captain. Personally, I think Deacon does organise the pack well: When we've had him playing our forwards seem to have dominated more. But that doesn't justify keeping him in the side. He may be a good organiser, but that isn't the only quality we need from a captain. Imo Morro would be a much better captain and in a few years Burgess -again imo- will be ready to take that step.

This is something I've said before too.

From the terraces, you can only judge certain things. How much they appears to be motivating players behind the sticks, visibly b*llocking players etc. You don't see a lot of the things a captain would normally be expected to do, for example the subtle comments and the changing room stuff.

From the terraces it definitely looks like Deacon isn't much of a captain and that players like Morrison, Menzies & Lynch would be better suited. However a spectator is always going to struggle to see who is good captain material. This is one of those things that those within the club are FAR better qualified than us fans to talk about.

There's only so many times a player or captain can dish out the bollockings on the field before he starts to get ignored. Same applies to coaches. The most successful ones get their point over without needing to look all shouty and animated. That kind of behaviour to me shows a lack of control and has elements of playing to the gallery.

Certainly there should be plenty of talk but it should be positive. For all we know Deacs could be doing all that.

Having said all that some recent matches have seen the crowd so quiet you can hear the players shouting at times.

People often seem to reckon that what is needed in various situations, is the so-called "hairdryer treatment", almighty bollockings and such like. Such ignorance makes me laugh. Whilst the very occasional blow-up or roasting might, just might, have some effect if truly rare - so the recipients genuinely didn't expect it coming - the thought that someone as tough as a rugby league player will go and play much better because someone [ishouted[/i at him is actually risible, if you think about it.

Aggressive tantrums, while they may get it off the chest of the person having the hissy fit, are usually as effective as Basil Fawlty administering a jolly good thrashing to his stalled motor.

A coach above all needs the players' respect. Respect and faith in their ability, judgment and leadership. Pretty much the same goes for a captain. Constantly bawling your team out is just such a dumb idea, it's hard to believe anyone would think it works.