Captains in the GAA - Your thoughts?

Daysha

How should they be picked? Are they that important? Should they be given more influence on the field (ie, only letting captains talk to refs?)

Reason I ask is I've been thinking about it since Davy Fitz announced that the way we're picking our captain for 2009 is going to be completely different to anywhere else in the country. He hasn't officially said what that consists of, but from talking to people "in-the-know" he's letting the players choose the nominations (one from the city, one from the county), and he'll have the final say.

I don't know if this is true or not, but apparantly the county players pick was Stephen Molumphy while the city guys went for Ken McGrath. Haven't heard which one of them he'll go for, but surely it would have to be McGrath. Another rumour I heard was the prospect of co-captains, but I doubt that'll come off.

What do you think? Should players have more of a say in picking it the captains like the above, should it be solely down to the manager or was the old system of letting the winning club from the local championship decide?

Or, given the pace of game, particularly in hurling, is the need for an on-field captain now obsolete?

Austin 3:16

The pace of the game and the size of the pitch precludes the ref from engaging with the captain every time an incident occurs. If the captain is corner forward and a corner back needs a talking to it's not really practical to talk to the two players like in rugby. In terms of leadership I feel that one of the natural leaders should be captain, letting county champions have the choice is a joke. I don't think it's any harm letting the players pick the captain as they'll obviously respect him if they pick em. Regardless the strong characters will come to the fore on the motivational front but it is nice to have a captain respected within the dressing room.

Daysha

Wow. Davy Fitz came out this morning and confirmed we'll be having dual captains, Molumphy and McGrath, but only because he wants one in attack and one in defence.

Seems like I spoke a few hours too soon

cmcsoft

I think the captain needs the respect of the players and management alike. I don't agree with dual captaincy I think it dilutes the responsibility and could lead to problems in the future.

There will always be natural leaders in every team whether captain or not I can see why he would want to do it but I don't think it's the way to go.

premierstone

Reality is in GAA the role of the captain is almost irrelevant tbh, and a great leader on the field will not be any less or more effective simply because he's captain or not. Especially in Waterfords case cos with Davy roaring and jumpin around the dressing room like a maniac i doubt the captain will get a word in at all

cruiserweight

premierstone wrote: »

Reality is in GAA the role of the captain is almost irrelevant tbh, and a great leader on the field will not be any less or more effective simply because he's captain or not.

I would agree with that sentiment. A captains job is mainly to collect the trophy. Great teams have strong players who can lead and inspire other players irrespective of whether or not they are captain. This two captains thing seems like a bit of a gimmick to be honest.

Seamu$

The system in Kerry is that the County Champions nominate the captain. It's a long held tradition that many like but the reality of it is that it can cause problems - sometimes the County Champions have no regular starter in the first 15. This year Mid Kerry won, and have Darren and Sean O'Sullivan and Donnacha Walsh on the panel, none of whom started the All Ireland Final for example. They then have to nominate someone else who would take over if their choice isn't playing.

The situation in 2002 when we lost to Armagh in the final that became a big issue was that a young Eoin Brosnan was captain when better, more natural leaders like Seamus Moynihan & Darragh O'Sé were on the pitch. I think natural leaders will always come to the fore & provide the leadership regardless of who has the captains armband.

Rizzla King

Captains should be the players that give 100% all the time and get the team going. A captains team talk can sometimes do a lot more than a mentor's talk.

premierstone

Rizzla King wrote: »

Captains should be the players that give 100% all the time and get the team going. A captains team talk can sometimes do a lot more than a mentor's talk.

At intercounty level any player that needs a team talk to get going has no place there in the first place tbh

Tomthepost

Seamu$ wrote: »

The system in Kerry is that the County Champions nominate the captain. It's a long held tradition that many like but the reality of it is that it can cause problems - sometimes the County Champions have no regular starter in the first 15. This year Mid Kerry won, and have Darren and Sean O'Sullivan and Donnacha Walsh on the panel, none of whom started the All Ireland Final for example. They then have to nominate someone else who would take over if their choice isn't playing.

The situation in 2002 when we lost to Armagh in the final that became a big issue was that a young Eoin Brosnan was captain when better, more natural leaders like Seamus Moynihan & Darragh O'Sé were on the pitch. I think natural leaders will always come to the fore & provide the leadership regardless of who has the captains armband.

So true.

smashey

Seamu$ wrote: »

I think natural leaders will always come to the fore & provide the leadership regardless of who has the captains armband.

Sounds like Sean Cavanagh to me.

Daysha

I'm not a huge fan of Davy's plan either tbh. The only way I could see it work would be if the two captains are complete equals, as in from the same club, long friendship between the two, know each other inside out, that kind of thing.

But in our case we've got one vastly experienced player from the city entering his 11th/12th Championship, and another from the country only entering his 3rd Championship and still at a young age too.

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

cruiserweight

Dublin have a slightly different plan regarding captaincy for the league

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/0120/dublin.html

The Dublin senior football management are to alternate their team captain during the upcoming National Football League, as the panel for the NFL has been announced.

A number of injuries are currently blighting the panel after the Dublin squad trained together in Garristown last weekend.

Despite giving promising displays during Dublin's O'Byrne Cup run and also showing well in training, newcomer Blaine Kelly is not considered due to a slight hamstring injury along with Alan Brogan who is concentrating on rehab work on a similar injury.

Eamon Fennell is also ruled out because of a knee injury, and although Kevin Bonner is nursing a bruised hip, the St Brigid's player is in contention along with Paddy Andrews who was rested last week due to bruising to his foot.

Returning to the panel is Declan Lally, following strong displays with the development squad, while more players are likely to join the panel from the development squad ranks after the league opener against Tyrone.

No captain has been chosen for the coming season. A number of candidates will be given the opportunity to lead the team during the National League.

The Kilmacud Crokes players have not been considered for the panel yet due to their upcoming All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final against Corofin in Longford on 21 February.

Meanwhile, next week will see Dublin manager Pat Gilroy and his selectors reveal their 24-man squad for the opening NFL tie against Tyrone at Croke Park on 31 January.

Rizzla King

premierstone wrote: »

At intercounty level any player that needs a team talk to get going has no place there in the first place tbh

You're right, but a talk to even further this. Not every GAA player is a machine designed to be fired up for every match!

premierstone

Rizzla King wrote: »

You're right, but a talk to even further this. Not every GAA player is a machine designed to be fired up for every match!

The good ones are

yahoo_moe

Rizzla King wrote: »

You're right, but a talk to even further this. Not every GAA player is a machine designed to be fired up for every match!

Would you let any of your county's players away with a poor display if they said that the captain's pre-match speech wasn't quite up to scratch? I wouldn't.

I'm not sure captaincy is that big a deal on the pitch - but off the pitch, I'd still reckon it counts for something. It's also good for management to have a 'go to guy' if they need feedback, etc. And even if it was only to pick up a trophy, I still think the 'county champions' tradition is pure sh*te.

cruiserweight wrote:

The Kilmacud Crokes players have not been considered for the panel yet due to their upcoming All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final against Corofin in Longford on 21 February.

Well whatever captaincy means or doesn't mean, at least Vaughany won't get the armband