Sometimes, your captain needn't be the guy with the biggest gob on them. Sometimes, it's the guy with the work ethic that's the best person to "lead you into battle" and Lockers has that in abundence.

Another plus point is he's a Wiganer through and through.

In my mind, I'd give the VC to Tommy or Pat. Interesting to see that people are looking to Sam to be captain. Sam's a leader and he does that on the pitch, but I think he's a captain for the future IMO.

Personally, I'd have O'Loughlin as captain and Deacon as vice.

From a supporters perspective, I've seen nothing from Lockers to suggest why he should lose his captaincy.

Lockers should stay captain but I don't think it really matters. If Bailey/Leuluai/Tomkins etc aren't captains, they can still talk on the field. They can still give advice and call moves. Captain is only a name really.

On the subject of others ,
i would choose George Carmont a consistent performer who's form and attitude since he has been at the club even got him into the dream team ,an old head who will stick up for his teammates and is a family man to boot.

If it was for twelve months i don't think it would cause to much upset in the camp and may lead to other players stepping up to the job if they knew it was up for grabs when he retires .

Lockers is a great player for us but not a very good captain IMO.
He's had the job long enough and like Noble it's time for a change to see if we can improve IMO. No one should be afraid to change captain and should welcome MM scrutinizing who the captain should be.

So its good to see MM starting everything with a clean sheet but unfortunately we have a very quiet side so there are no obvious alternatives which is hardly a stunning recommendation whoever gets the job be that Lockers or anyone else. The Captaincy and on field leadership has been an issue for several seasons now.

So I voted for Deacon simply because he's captained Bradford to several trophy victories. I doubt he will get it being the new boy though despite his obvious qualifications.

Dave

Wouldn't have said this previously, but Lockers is really starting to take the roll and command some respect.

In light of no other serious options at all (perhaps Bailey but that would be too short term) can't see anyone else at the moment who would be better.

Dave I can sort of see your reasoning, but it looks as though deacon will only be playing for one season, so I don't think that giving him the captaincy for that short period would be the way forward.

Personally I'd still go with Locky, he is well respected throughout the club by all the players.

Long term Sam will at some stage captain the club.

Why? What have we seen that tells us he is not a good captain?

Deacon only only became captain of Bradford in 2007.

I think this has been done to death in the past. He's just not vocal enough and while the usual response to that is he leads by example that isn't always enough. The best captains do both.

Too often in previous seasons when the side has been playing badly he has been one of the players stood under the sticks with his head down instead of doing the captains job. That said I do think he was a bit better in this regard in 2009 than previously.

I think he will actually get the captaincy again and at least if he does MM will have been shown to have gone through a selection process which would be a good thing in itself. It's just part of the meritocracy MM clearly wants to institute here so on the off chance someone else gets the job no one should complain IMO.

I always thought Millward appointed him as a young player to be captain just to be controversial and get some media attention and that Noble kept him as captain because Noble never rocked the boat with his first 17.

I have also always thought not being captain would make Lockers an even better player and would suit his work-a-holic ethic better. He can just get on with his 100% commitment to playing and not have to bother about being captain as well.

Dave

Captain is only a name tag.

There is no reason why other players such as Bailey, Richards, Carmont and Deacon cant do the shouting behind the sticks, even though when people say Lockers just puts his head down, thats just a myth.

Lockers is an ideal captain and he does what captains do best and that is lead by example. I just think DaveO is using it as another opportunity to have a moan.

No offence Meyt N Prater because I know you're only passing on what has been reported in the paper but I can't believe the Lockers Knockers are back....

Just when things were looking very, very good for next season:

1. New coaching team

2. New fitness regime

and last but not least

3. A really strong squad with strength in depth for the first time in years

we get the nonsense about the captaincy stirred up all over again.

Lockers did a decent job last season in what at times were very difficult circumstances. He showed good leadership skills despite coaching failures and the failure of some key players to take responsibility and in some cases a failure to achieve even a basic standard of fitness.

His personal performances were excellent and a more competitive and consistent Wigan side next season will give him a real platform to show what a good player he has become in recent years - if he can stay injury free he is likely to be a very strong contender for MoS.

The only good news is that when I clicked on the voting form I was very happy to see that nearly 80% of those who voted backed Lockers. He has the overwhelming support of Wigan fans and should continue. I can't believe for one minute that MM would change our captain. This is just nonsense instigated either by a small minority of misguided Wigan fans or more likely Wigan RL hating Latics morons or Stains or Wire fans spreading foul rumours....

O'Loughlin all the way, Bailey as vice.

Signing Deacon as Player, Coach and Captain in his first year here? Christ talk about pressure.

I really think taking the captaincy off Lockers would cause a lot of trouble with little reward at the end of it. McGuire could alienate the team in one fell swoop, and for what? Most of the potential captains (Carmont, Deacon, Bailey) will retire in a year or two, leaving the successor looking like sloppy seconds. That's not the kind of forward thinking I want from a coach. The captain should be Lockers with Bailey as vice if/when he signs a new deal, if not then Leuluai.

To way to think about it is this:

If there was no current Wigan captain, and they were picking from a clean slate, who would be the main candidate?

O'Loughlin by a country mile.

I'm 100% sure McGuire will pick him as captain, and he would be right to do so.