Australia's S14 Captain of the Season

[Biffo]

There are four candidates: Genia, Hoiles, Sharpe, Waugh. I found it extremely difficult to rank them. Number 4 was easy and number 3 not so hard after some thought. I could not split numbers 1 and 2.

Number 1 (shared): Will Genia and Nathan Sharpe
Number 3: Phil Waugh
Number 4: Stephen Hoiles

I also give very, very honourable mention to James Horwill for truly extraordinary leadership off the field.

 

[RugbyFuture]

1.Genia
2.Sharpe
3.Waugh
4.Hoiles

Genia has to be commended for the reds and being so young
Sharpe kept spirits up

waugh got to the finals (maybe not that great a captain, but you never know)
hoiles

its hard to rate considering the roll of the captain is to lead, only those who they are leading would really know.

 

[Ruggo]

Genia and Sharpe. Hoiles would of had the toughest task.

 

[Sully]

Hoiles has a real problem talking to Refs. And I don't just mean Walsh. I cringe every time he opens his mouth.

 

[Tiger]

Hoiles has a real problem talking to Refs. And I don't just mean Walsh. I cringe every time he opens his mouth.

Absolutely agree. That "can I give you a hint" crap in the Reds game really irked me.

 

[Ruggo]

I didn't realise he said that. Only a week after the Walsh incident I would definatly agree with you blokes. What a tosser.

Might I add that I think James Horwill would of done a great job also with the Reds had he not been injured.

 

[Reddy!]

Genia has to be the only choice?

Sharpe? He captained his side to 2nd last place, hardly impressive. Waugh would be the 2nd best captain this season.

Hoiles is a good bloke, good player and a good captain, but he is in a team with too many leaders.

 

[cyclopath]

Genia has to be the only choice?

Sharpe? He captained his side to 2nd last place, hardly impressive. Waugh would be the 2nd best captain this season.

Hoiles is a good bloke, good player and a good captain, but he is in a team with too many leaders.

Whether the team wins or not is not necessarily the mark of a captain. Allan Border had some dire times before it came good towards the latter part of his career - who would question his credentials?
Sharpe does the job of captaining well - he has played consistently well this season (the captain needs to be able to inspire), deals well with refs (which is more than the silent approach Genia uses, which is OK, he's young) without pissing them off and seems to be respected by players and officials alike.
Genia could be a great skipper - he is very new to it, and it sounds like he is a bit of a reluctant leader. If he wants it enough, he'll be fine. He needs to be more vocal.
Waugh does the captaincy job well - see comments on Sharpe, but tactically I think misses the mark sometimes.
Hoiles might be a great bloke (you know him?), and a good player, but for me, he is not at all a good captain.

 

[#1 Tah]

You cant really separate them can you?

Sharpe always looked for the positives and was consistent and patient every week
Genia lead a marvellous reds rocket ship from 14th place, in running, exciting fashion
Waugh broke 2 records and lead the Tahs to the semis for the 4th time

even Mumm stood tall when he had to captain the team V Cheetahs

Hoiles......

 

[Ruggo]

Captaincy is all the more harder in a losing team and seldomly is the captain the one underperforming. Sharpe has done a bloody great job this year.

Reddy, does the name John Roe ring a bell to you? For a one eyed Reds supporter, you certainly have a short memory.

Genia has done a fantastic job but to be completely fair, I would guess he has had it quite easy given the attitude of the Reds playing group this year. It is his maturity for such a young and inexperienced bloke that grabs my attention and praise.

 

[waratahjesus]

genia did a good job but he did inherit the captaincy of a side that was already doing well, if being the best captain of an aus super side means not fucking up something someone has already done to the same level, then yeah he is a ripper.

i'd give sharpe number 1, cant stand him, but cant fault him, the injury list and some of there recruitment is puzzling at times but he never gives up or rolls over, would have to be easy to do so as well.

2 to waugh, with the amount of critics the tahs have, he has the hardest job (arguably) he stuck to his guns, and he led his side to wins against every other australian side, two of them away. (the third to but that was nsw doing)

further more, what is it with the qld came from 14th crap? they started the comp on the same amount of points and with the same chance as any other team, last year the tahs were labeled failures for finishing fifth, seems qld should have this tag for 2010 then.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

further more, what is it with the qld came from 14th crap? they started the comp on the same amount of points and with the same chance as any other team, last year the tahs were labeled failures for finishing fifth, seems qld should have this tag for 2010 then.

Jeez WJ, whats the story with the shrewish condemnation of anything reds related mate? We have finished in double figures since 2004. Suck it up princess, we got a right to be happy with a 5th place finish :thumb and any supporter of Australian rugby should be pleased with the result. When you compare the cattle available in the tahs team last year, which should have finished higher than 5th, with the reds lineup this year, which most of us would have been happy to see 7th or 8th, it's not difficult to see why one is labelled a failure, the other hailed for a great run over the season.

Or is it a sign of a deeper insecurity that you fear deep down that normal service is resuming and 2011 onward may see a re-run of the 1996-2004 run of reds wins over the tahs..... :fishing

 

[Langthorne]

I agree with WJ:

1.Sharpe (tough job in a losing team, but he kept them going, and played brilliantly)
2.Waugh (some tactical decisions were not to my taste, but he got the Tahs over the line a few times through his skill, determination, and ability to motivate)
3. Genia (mainly led by example, but what an example)
4. Hoiles (often played well, but spat the dummy at the ref too often)


As far as 5th being a success for the Reds - it is a big improvement, so why not celebrate it? In fact the performance of all the Aussie s14 teams is cause for celebration - have the Australian teams ever collectively done better? I'm pretty sure they have better averages than both the NZ and SA teams.

 

[Scotty]

I would give it to Sharpe as well. Genia showed signs of getting better and better in the role towards the end of the season, and could end up a great wallaby captain in the future, but he still has areas to improve (mainly will come with experience and confidence though).

 

[waratahjesus]

further more, what is it with the qld came from 14th crap? they started the comp on the same amount of points and with the same chance as any other team, last year the tahs were labeled failures for finishing fifth, seems qld should have this tag for 2010 then.

Jeez WJ, whats the story with the shrewish condemnation of anything reds related mate? We have finished in double figures since 2004. Suck it up princess, we got a right to be happy with a 5th place finish :thumb and any supporter of Australian rugby should be pleased with the result. When you compare the cattle available in the tahs team last year, which should have finished higher than 5th, with the reds lineup this year, which most of us would have been happy to see 7th or 8th, it's not difficult to see why one is labelled a failure, the other hailed for a great run over the season.

Or is it a sign of a deeper insecurity that you fear deep down that normal service is resuming and 2011 onward may see a re-run of the 1996-2004 run of reds wins over the tahs..... :fishing

no deeper insecurity here a couple of weeks ago and all through the season reds fans have been beating there chests about being the best aussie side, they lost to the tahs and brumbies and missed the finals, if we dont point that out at every opportunity then fans of the other teams arnt doing there jobs.

you had the best coach (who quite a few qld fans who now rejoice in him were against i might ad) in australia at the moment, he had tactics that served your team well, and as i said if your consistant again next year playing the same style i take my hat off, maybe you would be a chance of your back three scoring as many trys as there less fancied southern relatives.

i am red-tarded!

 

[Scotty]

i am red-tarded!

I agree.

 

[Geeves]

Shall we get back to the thread?

Anyway my 2 cents. All the captains this year have had extraordinary seasons. Sharpe picking up and carrying his team forward in the early games and then finally being able to celebrate the win. Waugh's try saving tackle by rolling the payer on to his back. Genia's lead by energizer bunny example by running into holes, linkage and slips fielding. Holies for his constant linkage with the backs after big runs up the guts. They were the good. The bad was Holies and his indiscipline with refs. I was seriously surprised that he didn't get marched a hell of a lot more in that NSW game. Waugh's whining after the stormers game.

1. Sharpe. Just never stopped trying and was outstanding for the Force. More often than not took the right option.

2. Waugh. Inspirational for his side but can on occasion spend a bit of time whining to the ref which is something that annoys me. Tactically better about his decisions than Genia and that what gets him 2.

3. Genia. A reluctant captain who grew into the role. He didn't appear to spend a lot of time talking to those around him but hell did he lead by example. Didn't harp on to the ref as some halfbacks in the past have done and made it very plain to team mates when they were not performing. Still has too learn to take the points when on offer. But rallied the side when required by his efforts.

4. Holies. There was a sizable difference between 3 and 4. Although generally playing very well his inability to knit the team together when it counted and his approach to the ref was not leadership material. There were several times when his authority was not established over his own team mates and the role confusion was a detriment to the Brumbies.

 

[Reddy!]

Yeh Sharpe captained his side to a historic 50-10 thash fest by the Reds, what a great captain :lmao:

The Reds had just as many injuries against the Highlanders as the Force had during this season, if not more, and Genia led his team to victory, while Sharpe couldn't manage to get his men fired up for the last game of the season against the lowly Cheetahs.

What a cop out to Genia for suggesting Sharpes name in the same sentence. Genia produced one of the best season performances for an individual in recent memory. Sharpe however carelessly uses explicit language on live TV which accurately depicts the culture he has created within the Western Force camp.

Call me bias, but I am right.

 

[Lindommer]

Yer right, you're biassed.

 

[Biffo]

Yeh Sharpe captained his side to a historic 50-10 thash fest by the Reds, what a great captain :lmao:

The Reds had just as many injuries against the Highlanders as the Force had during this season, if not more, and Genia led his team to victory, while Sharpe couldn't manage to get his men fired up for the last game of the season against the lowly Cheetahs.

What a cop out to Genia for suggesting Sharpes name in the same sentence. Genia produced one of the best season performances foApopor an individual in recent memory. Sharpe however carelessly uses explicit language on live TV which accurately depicts the culture he has created within the Western Force camp.

Call me bias, but I am right.

You are, is an quite a few of your posts, confused. Here you are unable to distinguish between performance as player and performance as captain. In that confusion you would, if given the power, appoint Quade Cooper as Qland captain.