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2018 Captain

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
Who do we think will get the nod?

A lot of people predicting Pearce would be the easy choice given he’s easily the most experienced member of the spine/playmaker but I wouldn’t be surprised if Brown keeps with Buhrer and Sione as co-captains either so that Pearce can just focus on his own game/leading the team around the park. They did a good job last year with a very young but consistently well motivated team.
 

Frederick

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
27,533
Who do we think will get the nod?

A lot of people predicting Pearce would be the easy choice given he’s easily the most experienced member of the spine/playmaker but I wouldn’t be surprised if Brown keeps with Buhrer and Sione as co-captains either so that Pearce can just focus on his own game/leading the team around the park. They did a good job last year with a very young but consistently well motivated team.
I wouldn't say no to a Buhrer/Guerra co-captaincy. Both well respected and have a wealth of experience. Would also let Sione focus solely on getting back to his best
 

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
I could get behind Buhrer/Guerra co-captains. I’m not a fan of co-captains either but I’d feel for Buhrer if Guerra soley got the nod over him given he did a good job. Brown could easily remove Sione from the captaincy role given his age and it was only ever meant to be temporary but Buhrer would be more difficult.
 

Still Nutty

Juniors
Messages
867
Picked this up off the MS twitter feed....(and posted it in the 2018 team thread)

Our leadership group for 2018 is:

Jamie Buhrer
Sione Mata’utia
Nathan Ross
Mitch Barnett
Mitchell Pearce
Aidan Guerra
Shaun Kenny-Dowall

It would seem that Brown has continued to build on the Sydney Swans model and selected a leadership group, from which a captain would be appointed but that might also be rotated, etc. - I think the way it has established the player culture in the Swans has been a real positive, so I hope that translates into the Knights culture going forward.
 

Old dog

Juniors
Messages
2,449
Don't think it should be Pearce and not sure about co-caps, see a need to have a ready made replacement should Cap of the day go off injured, guess that would be covered prior to start of game.
Let Pearce run the show, as half backs do, and nominated Cap makes the decisions and talks with Ref.
My pick is Buhrer and one of leadership group as back up. A forward would be best due to nearness of the play as apposed to f/b or wing.
 

perverse

Referee
Messages
25,828
I'd go all in on Pearce and make him captain. Some people thrive under responsibility, others not so much. I think his decision to come to the Knights at all tells me where he is at mentally. I think the responsibility will help him grow and go to that next level. Make him the man and he may very well grow into the position of being the man.
 

Hardcore_Fan

Juniors
Messages
1,489
Pearce or buhrer for mine.

Sione is too young to be captaining. Yeah he’s done it before but only because he was the only option. It’s now time for sione to develop as a player and not worry about captaincy. His time time will come in a few years.
 

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
Picked this up off the MS twitter feed....(and posted it in the 2018 team thread)

Our leadership group for 2018 is:

Jamie Buhrer
Sione Mata’utia
Nathan Ross
Mitch Barnett
Mitchell Pearce
Aidan Guerra
Shaun Kenny-Dowall

It would seem that Brown has continued to build on the Sydney Swans model and selected a leadership group, from which a captain would be appointed but that might also be rotated, etc. - I think the way it has established the player culture in the Swans has been a real positive, so I hope that translates into the Knights culture going forward.

I don’t think the captain would be rotated from that leadership group...for starters two of them are wingers (have to have a captain closer to the action).

From that list I think we can put a line through Ross, SKD and probably Barnett (he maybe could in the future though if he keeps improving).

Assuming the captain(s) come from the leadership group we’re looking at some kind of combination of Buhrer, Sione, Pearce and Guerra.

Buhrer
Pros: experience last year, tough and leads by example
Cons: could potentially get pushed from the side as more talents comes in but that’s not the case at this stage

Sione
Pros: leadership skills are well known, was sole captain at times last year and handled it really well, has probably been ear-marked for captain in the future anyway
Cons: still very young, is moving positions again and needs to focus on his game and already has too much to worry about with this and his concussions IMO

Pearce
Pros: main player maker, in the action, most experienced of all spine by far, he’s a good age where he’s not too young but not too old where we’d have to change again in a year or two
Cons: already has a lot of pressure on him moving clubs and being the only established player in the spine and will have to organise everything on field

Guerra
Pros: from that recent Fox Sports article it already seems like he’s being a huge leader at training, very professional/experienced from his time with Qld/Roosters
Cons: new to the club and I suppose risk of not performing his best here - potential for another Hokko situation although I hope not


I’d lean torwards Buhrer +/- Guerra because I think Sione and Pearce already have enough to worry about.
 

Still Nutty

Juniors
Messages
867
I don’t think the captain would be rotated from that leadership group...for starters two of them are wingers (have to have a captain closer to the action).

From that list I think we can put a line through Ross, SKD and probably Barnett (he maybe could in the future though if he keeps improving).

Assuming the captain(s) come from the leadership group we’re looking at some kind of combination of Buhrer, Sione, Pearce and Guerra.

Buhrer
Pros: experience last year, tough and leads by example
Cons: could potentially get pushed from the side as more talents comes in but that’s not the case at this stage

Sione
Pros: leadership skills are well known, was sole captain at times last year and handled it really well, has probably been ear-marked for captain in the future anyway
Cons: still very young, is moving positions again and needs to focus on his game and already has too much to worry about with this and his concussions IMO

Pearce
Pros: main player maker, in the action, most experienced of all spine by far, he’s a good age where he’s not too young but not too old where we’d have to change again in a year or two
Cons: already has a lot of pressure on him moving clubs and being the only established player in the spine and will have to organise everything on field

Guerra
Pros: from that recent Fox Sports article it already seems like he’s being a huge leader at training, very professional/experienced from his time with Qld/Roosters
Cons: new to the club and I suppose risk of not performing his best here - potential for another Hokko situation although I hope not


I’d lean torwards Buhrer +/- Guerra because I think Sione and Pearce already have enough to worry about.

Sorry, I should have been clearer....I wasn't thinking every player on that list would get a turn at having the 'C' next to their name - I meant that it wouldn't necessarily be 1 pick and stick option out of that group for the season, so a couple of these may take on the role over the year as co-captains as you've called it.

I do think all of those named though would be the peer upholders or culture keepers in the playing group - it seems they have highlighted those that will lead by example but also pull the other players into line where necessary, as Guerra did re the get your hands off your hips 'body language' chip during the training session with the fox sports reporter...and that is a great culture to be building within the ranks
 

Bring it home Knights

First Grade
Messages
7,572
IMO one of the most important factors is to pick a captain who will start the game every week. I’m sure Brown won’t want to set us up for a prolonged Kurt gidley for nsw experience.

This means that Pearce would need to be the player picked to captain. I can see both Sione and buhrer playing off the bench in the future with the forwards that we have. I’m not saying they will this year, but possibly sometime in the future.

It would be hard going from the teams captain for a couple of years then being stripped of the role. I remember reading that Mark Sargent and Mal Reilly almost getting into a punch up, years after Reilly moved Sarge to the bench in 1995.
 

Pedge1971

First Grade
Messages
5,898
I'd go all in on Pearce and make him captain. Some people thrive under responsibility, others not so much. I think his decision to come to the Knights at all tells me where he is at mentally. I think the responsibility will help him grow and go to that next level. Make him the man and he may very well grow into the position of being the man.

Definitely not against this! Sounds like Guerra has been a big influence in pre season as well. Nice to have options.

Ultimate choice not that important, this will be Pearce's team.
 

Old dog

Juniors
Messages
2,449
You miss the point, Captains get called out by ref for many reasons, penalties, team warnings etc, don't want playmaker doing that when he could be organising team, defence or attack. So one does the chatting/discussions the other is busy as playmaker etc.
 

Belly007

Juniors
Messages
20
Who do we think will get the nod?

A lot of people predicting Pearce would be the easy choice given he’s easily the most experienced member of the spine/playmaker but I wouldn’t be surprised if Brown keeps with Buhrer and Sione as co-captains either so that Pearce can just focus on his own game/leading the team around the park. They did a good job last year with a very young but consistently well motivated team.
From what I am reading, the thought is that Buhrer and Guerra may end up being co-captains, which I thought of as being a little strange. IF (it's a big IF), Nathan Brown sold the Knights to Mitchell Pearce as being "his' team....why not give him the captaincy as well?? At the end of the day, I believe Brown has built a strong team, and I'll be happy with whoever he decides is the best candidate....
 

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
IF (it's a big IF), Nathan Brown sold the Knights to Mitchell Pearce as being "his' team....why not give him the captaincy as well?? At the end of the day, I believe Brown has built a strong team, and I'll be happy with whoever he decides is the best candidate....

It isn’t one player’s team. It’s Pearce’s in the sense that he’s the only established player in the spine and will therefore be making most of the playmaking calls but I don’t see why that would make him entitled to captaincy. He’d make sense as captain for the reasons above but I don’t think Brown wants us to get back to a point where we were a one man team.
 

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