Why is Crane Captain?

[AlphaWiseOwl]

Can somebody explain to me why Jordon Crane was ever considered worthy in the first place, but worse still, remains the Captain of our great club? His decision making in the last two HC games particularly have been disgraceful. Not only did he kick the ball out of play in the final seconds of the Toulouse match when we were pushing forward nicely, going for a precious losing bonus point, but he gave away penalty after penalty against Ospreys, coming in at the side not rolling away and being off his feet. If it were not for the late flurry of tries and Toby's kicking, his performance could well have lost us the game, or at least given Ospreys a losing bonus. He may be a good player but he is not yet great, and he is far from being Captain material. Toby Flood was running the show, organising the players as usual, and making a pretty good fist of it. The result was alrgely down to his game management and quick thinking. Wake up Cockers, give Toby the armband.

[Southernsoftie]

RC doesn't think there are many candidates in Geordan Murphy's absence.

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/s ... story.html

[Tom Tom]

Well definitely not Crane.
Toby, TTTE, Geoff
Even prefer Italy's recent Captain! (Shambles and the reminder of a Jumble Sale that he is)

[Old Hob]

Toby Flood seems to be marshalling the backs constantly; perhaps to make him Capt of the whole team would be too much. However, A A backs captain; Parling, pack leader and Flood Team Captain would be my choice. I think, too there should be a handover of captaincy at Christmas with Geordan still on the pitch to advise and guide the new captain until G.M's retirement.

[Nailsworthstiger]

His decision making in the last two HC games particularly have been disgraceful.

I think calling Jordan Cranes play as disgraceful is well over the top and not warranted. I do agree though that JC hasn't played well since he returned to the field, but no one plays badly on purpose.

Toby Flood was running the show, organising the players as usual, and making a pretty good fist of it. The result was alrgely down to his game management and quick thinking.

It was actually Scott Hamilton who went up to TF and said to him to hurry up with the conversion as we still had time to get the 4th try

[CitizenSmiff]

Yes his form's not up to scratch at the moment but let's not forget he's just spent a year out and before that was one of the best number 8s in the country. We talk about loyalty a lot on here so maybe it's time to show a little in return and dial back the vitriol? After all we're going to need him more than ever with TTTE off making his granny proud.

[Darc Tiger]

With Geordy out it should be Deacs or Parling. Flood has the credentials, but I'd prefer him just to focus on his game, and not lump more responsibility on him.

[AlphaWiseOwl]

Loyalty does not mean being blind to the obvious Nailsworth. Also, read what I said before taking issue. I did not say that JC's play was disgraceful, I said his decision making was disgraceful and I supported this with evidence. I also said tht he was a good player but was not yet great. Other posts on this topic seem to agree that he is still work-in-progress. It is bad form to expect someone to perform outside of their proven ability - have you heard of the Peter Principle? Nobody told him to kick the ball out in Toulouse, he made that call. You could see from the not too well disguised body language of the rest of the team, and in the interview afterwards with RC, what they thought of that. Giving away penalty after penalty is an individual fault. It also means you are either not listening to the ref or you think you can get away with it. Both are unattractive conclusions on JC's overall performance in the two HC games. Yes, he has been out injured but what has that got to do with anything? He has been given the immense honour of being Captain for goodness sake, so why did he make so many costly individual errors?

I also said that the Ospreys result was "largely" down to Toby's game management and quick thinking. Again, the result, the intercept try and points attributed to him testifies to this.

I will be oh so relieved to see Geordan back at the helm to steady the ship but RC needs to think about succession. Whoever he picks as Tigers Captain in the future has got to be somebody who can do the right things, at the right time, pretty much all of the time. At the moment, IMHO, JC falls somewhat short of fitting that bill.

[4071]

Loyalty does not mean being blind to the obvious Nailsworth. Also, read what I said before taking issue. I did not say that JC's play was disgraceful, I said his decision making was disgraceful and I supported this with evidence.

Of kicking the ball away in one game - definitely a poor decision - and giving away two penalties in another (the same as Cole, Goneva, Mafi and Ayerza). Hardly a mountain of evidence that.

[4071]

so why did he make so many costly individual errors?

Costly?

We needed a converted try in Toulouse to get a losing BP, and - whether Crane kicked the ball away or not - we weren't going to get it. We had created nothing in the previous 80 minutes and that wasn't changing any time soon. The kick was irritating rather than costly.

And being one of five players who conceded two penalties against the Ospreys was also not costly - you may not have noticed, but we won that. With a try bonus point. And prevented the Ospreys from getting anything.

So when you say 'costly'...

[rich1576]

I could never understand why Crane was given the captaincy, especially so soon after coming back from long term injury. I thought Geoff Parling would be the obvious choice. I could be wrong but I believe Anthony Allen has also captained the side in the past. Now Deacs is back, he can also through his hat into the ring. Why does RC think there's no choices?

[Nailsworthstiger]

He has been given the immense honour of being Captain for goodness sake, so why did he make so many costly individual errors?

Does this mean that Geordan Murphy, Martin Corry, Martin Johnson et al never made a mistake?

[sam16111986]

Whilst I agree that Crane isn't in top fitness or form he is a logical choice for captain. He has previously captained the club and has captained England at every level up to the saxons. He was inatrumental in our win over the Ospreys. He influenced Poite massively in two vital decisions. A word in the refs ear at the scrum preceeding the set piece where Bevington was yellow carded and more crucially he got to Poite in the second half when it looked to all the world like Ayerza was going to the bin. Had Marcos gone then we would not have got the TBP and maybe not the win.

Rather than criticise the guy we should be applauding him for coming back from that nasty injury and leading us to a few wins and only one loss, one loss away against the most successful team in HEC history.

[Oadby35]

""Whilst I agree that Crane isn't in top fitness or form he is a logical choice for captain""

Well just argue with your self why not

But if were having a vote Parling for me ....it looked like he was running the show yesterday

[quincy]

Don't blame him for being captain as no doubt the director of rugby makes that choice.
I would hope that a good coach would understand how important a good captain can be. Unfortunately I don't think that the Tigers currently have a really good captain within the squad.
Succesful teams sometimes have a great captain who is not in a side as the best player in his position.Take Billy Beaumont for example.
All the really great sides have had outstanding leaders on the pitch. The likes of Kirkpatrick for the All Blacks and our own Johno for both Leicester and England.
I can see where Cockerill is coming from in picking Crane, as Number 8 is probably one of the best positions on the pitch to run the team from. fullback is OK to see how the game is panning out in front of you but then again it is too far away from the main action in the pack and to be close enough to gee players up.
Tigers don't appear to have anyone other the Murphy at the moment. Deacon is not vocal enough and IMO the only other player who seems to be saying anything positive is Flood at fly half, but he is not there every week.