General 2025 Captaincy Discussion

[WahsaurusRex]

To not flood the recruitment thread or Tohus thread with Captaincy yarn (Not that that has happened yet, but its coming haha)

Mitch Barnett: Stand-In Captain
166 NRL Games, 38 as a Warrior
9 as Captain (Warriors 3-6)
4 Rep Games
0 as Captain

Wayde Egan: Incumbent Vice Captain
129 NRL Games, 100 as a Warrior
4 as Captain (Warriors 2-2)
0 Rep Games

James Fisher-Harris: Incumbent Kiwis Captain
203 NRL Games, 0 as a Warrior
5 as Captain (Panthers 2-3)
22 Rep Games
8 as Captain (Maori 0-1, Kiwis 4-3)

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: Former Captain
213 NRL Games, 129 as a Warrior
104 as Captain (Warriors 40-1-63)
22 Rep Games
0 as Captain

The only other players to captain a first-grade game in the team, by my count at least, is Capewell (5-2, all with Broncos), Walker (0-1, with us), and DWZ (3-2 with Kiwis, 0-1-0 with Maori All Stars). Probably really only a two-horse race between Barney and Fish but

 

[Dantheman]

Mitch Barnett easily for me.

 

[Lance155]

I am happy with Fish or Barney. Maybe Barney as he is established at the club

 

[Bippidydoodah]

Has to be Mitch, he's earned it

 

[Inruin]

You wouldn't go dual captain with Barney and JFH?

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

I’m going JFH but would be happy with Barnett.

JFH - Kiwi. Kiwi captain. Same mana as Barnett. More of a long term option & signed for longer.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

Tough decision tho...both likely only playing 40-60 minutes a game so maybe the joint captaincy could be a goer?

Mitch has worked his arse off and I'd be stoked to have him, but also you can't question the mana of JFH and what he's achieved so far. He's also likely to be here longer than Barney too.

Either way, if you drop the ball or miss a tackle expect a serve from one of these hearty f**kers

 

[run_it_str8_again]

Fish. Because, Fish.

 

[WA Warrior]

I’m going Barney.
Runs on the board with our club.
Come here with a reputation and not a good one with the loose unit tag.
Turned it around and has become a leader of men and a Rep player.
Love Fish but for me Barney is my guy.

 

[Wrighty]

JFH - better leader. More mana by one million miles. And it should make JHH play better. Barnett Vice Captain.

 

[france]

co captains will work for me..but either way as long as we win our games lol

 

[The Warrior Waka]

I'm usually against props being captains as they usually rest twice a game.
And Barney & Fish aren't yappers so there won't be alot of talking.
Egan if he wasn't so injury prone would be ideal.
Charnze leads by example & is always into the boys. He's got a cool head on him so he'll handle the refs well.

 

[FormerlyJamesW]

I definitely think that putting JFH as a plug and play captain may be a tad presumptuous. Atleast give him a year with the players and see then.

I'm sure he'll end up as a captain anyway, but you never know how this stuff will turn out.

When I think of a captain, I think of players who don't get shook up about stuff. Barney's the one I think of when I think of this, but he's potentially going to miss three weeks with SOO too..

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't have a fucking clue who should be captain...

 

[mt.wellington]

Mitch Barnett.

I feel like he thrived in the role last season in the absence of Tohu Harris and is what helped catapult him to Origin and Kangaroos honours. He already has the full respect of the coach, staff and most importantly his fellow team mates.

The only other viable option IMO is James Fisher-Harris but I think it would put undue pressure on him to waltz into a new club and assume the captaincy straight away. I feel JFH could learn a thing or two from Barnett and will no doubt get the role eventually but I'd like to see him bleed for the jersey first before expecting the same from his team...

 

[BigUCE]

I'm usually against props being captains as they usually rest twice a game.
And Barney & Fish aren't yappers so there won't be alot of talking.
Egan if he wasn't so injury prone would be ideal.
Charnze leads by example & is always into the boys. He's got a cool head on him so he'll handle the refs well.

To solve that problem we could introduce co-captains I guess?

 

[Naynay]

I do like the idea of JFH as the captain, but what is the message we send the group if someone can walk in and just get it. Im happy for the players to decide and if they don’t want them to Barnnett has earned it

 

[snake77]

Barnett has come a long way since he signed here. Before he played his first game here we had a few discussions about being concerned he could be a hot head. Remember he got sent off at the Knights for that elbow show.

He's thrived since arriving here. His form has been fantastic. He has made rep sides. We usually have players come here from Australia and go backwards.

He did well when he took over from Harris last year.

He leads from the front.

I am happy having JFH in the leadership group. I think he should get acclimatised to living in Auckland and playing for the Warrior first before taking on the captaincy.

 

[The Warrior Waka]

To solve that problem we could introduce co-captains I guess?

The options are Barnett & Fisher-Harris. At one time they'll both be off? Unless it's Barnett & Rts. I'd still prefer Cnk.

 

[Worried2Death]

Payne Haas (c)

 

[run_it_str8_again]

I do like the idea of JFH as the captain, but what is the message we send the group if someone can walk in and just get it. Im happy for the players to decide and if they don’t want them to Barnnett has earned it

The message is whoever is in the team and is the best candidate will be the captain. This idea of Barney being here longer doesn't make him a better candidate just having worn the jersey longer. I think we miss an opportunity to make the four in a row premiership guy who captains his country get given the message that he has something to prove that he already hasn't.

Barnett is also an awesome option