Isaah Yeo leads NSW squad stacked with eight NRL club captains
Brisbane: Isaah Yeo will lead NSW to Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, buoyed by the fact seven more NRL club captains will follow him.
This wealth of leadership experience means the Blues are unlikely to lose their composure in the run-up to 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 also captained Brisbane, Addin Uzmana-Blake was promoted to captain the Sharks during the Magic Round and Hudson Young stepped into his role for the Raiders with Joe Tapine off the field.
The high level of leadership in Laurie Daley’s squad is in stark contrast to when Brad Fittler took charge of the Blues eight years ago. Fittler then became what he called “half-captain”, an amusing description of Boyd Cordner, who shared the Roosters role with Jake Friend at the time.
“When you’re captain you get a feel for the game, you know how it’s going, so I’ll trust the other boys,” Yeo said.
“I definitely don’t think you can have too much leadership.
“I lead ‘Critta’ in a different way [Crichton]. He is a real connector and an emotional guide, whereas me and ‘Nath’ are somewhat similar in our styles.
“I love learning from those kids; I’m in a very lucky position.”
Cleary said the ability of NSW 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 it’s nice to have real captains who are used to carrying that load every week, to have people take each other’s burdens in such a high-pressure environment,” he said.
Crichton added: “Leadership is the most important thing, especially in big games like this when we go to Suncorp.”
Murray took over the Rabbitoh captaincy from fan favorite Adam Reynolds 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, consistency in preparation and messaging,” Murray said of Yeo.
“He is one of the greatest leaders I have played with and someone I have learned a lot from. It is a privilege to play alongside such a player.”
Moses saw only one positive aspect of having so many captains, saying: “When you have so many leaders in the group, it means you don’t have to do all the talking and you can focus on your role and what’s best for the team.”
He praised Eels halfback Clint Gutherson, a former Eel, for helping shape his style of captaincy.
Barnett, who shares the top job at Warriors with James Fisher-Harris, said: “Captainting the club is just another word for someone with some experience. I step in when I need to but we’ve got some great leaders here.”
Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau was part of the Origin II squad but never took to the field in Melbourne.
Queensland has three club captains including Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle), Harry Grant (Melbourne) and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Gold Coast).
NSW crossed the border from Kingscliff camp on Sunday and will continue preparations there in Ballymore on Monday. The only injury concern is Ethan Strange, who has a “50/50” chance of taking his place on the bench and will need to run in the penultimate session. Canterbury’s Matt Burton is on standby.
