Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Brisbane: Isaah Yeo will lead NSW onto Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night buoyed by the fact he’ll be followed by a further seven NRL club captains.
That wealth of leadership experience means it is unlikely the Blues will lose their composure in the series decider against Queensland.
Yeo and fellow Penrith co-captain Nathan Cleary will be joined by fellow captains Cameron Murray (South Sydney), James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters), Stephen Crichton (Canterbury), Mitchell Moses (Parramatta), Blayke Brailey (Cronulla) and Mitch Barnett (New Zealand Warriors).
Payne Haas has also captained Brisbane, Addin Fonua-Blake was elevated to Sharks skipper during Magic Round and Hudson Young has stepped into the role at the Raiders whenever Joe Tapine has been off the field.
The high levels of leadership in Laurie Daley’s squad are in stark contrast to eight years ago when Brad Fittler first took charge of the Blues. Fittler then had what he labelled “half a captain”, an amusing description of Boyd Cordner, who was sharing the Roosters’ role with Jake Friend at the time.
“When you’re a captain, you get a feel for the game, you know how it’s going, so I’ll be leaning on those other boys,” Yeo said.
“I definitely don’t think you can have too much leadership.
“I lead differently to ‘Critta’ [Crichton]. He’s a real connector and an emotional driver, whereas me and ‘Nath’ are a bit similar with our styles.
“I love to learn off those boys – I’m in a very lucky position.”
Cleary said the ability of NSW’s club captains to share leadership roles on the field could only help NSW.
“At this level, everyone is a leader in their own right. But to have the actual captains who are used to carrying that load each week, it’s nice to have people to take a load off each other in such a high-pressure environment,” he said.
Crichton added: “Leadership is the biggest thing, especially in big games like this when we’re going up to Suncorp.”
Murray took over from fan favourite Adam Reynolds as Rabbitohs captain at the end of 2021, and loves learning about leadership from Yeo.
“He’s one of the best I’ve played with in terms of preparation, his consistency in his preparation and his messaging,” Murray said of Yeo.
“He’s one of the greatest leaders I’ve played alongside, and someone I’ve already learned so much off. It’s a privilege to play next to a player like that.”
Moses could only see an upside to having so many captains, and said: “When you’ve got so many leaders in the group, it means you don’t have to do all the talking, and you can nail down your focus on your role and what’s best for the team.”
The Eels playmaker praised former Eel Clint Gutherson for helping shape his own captaincy style.
Barnett, who shares the top job at the Warriors with James Fisher-Harris, said: “Being a club captain is another name for someone who has a bit of experience. I chime in when I need to, but we have some terrific leaders here.”
Wests Tigers skipper Api Koroisau was part of the Origin II squad, but never took the field in Melbourne.
Queensland feature three club captains, including Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle), Harry Grant (Melbourne) and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Gold Coast).
NSW left their Kingscliff camp on Sunday and crossed the border, where they will continue preparations on Monday at Ballymore. The only injury concern is Ethan Strange, who has been rated a “50/50” chance to take his place on the bench and will need to be running at the penultimate session. Canterbury’s Matt Burton is on standby.
