Joe Marler... Harlequins New Captain!

by yappysnap Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:03 pm

Not a late April fools!

Joe Marler is to be the Harlequins club captain for 2014/15.

Here's what the club say:

England prop Joe Marler will captain Harlequins for the 2014-15 season replacing Chris Robshaw in the role.

Robshaw has captained Harlequins for the past four seasons but Conor O'Shea felt the time was right to relieve some of the pressures of being captain of both club and country. With the World Cup just over a year away, he has opted to give the captaincy of Harlequins to Marler.

"I am delighted that Joe has agreed to take over the captaincy from Chris," Harlequins boss O'Shea said. "He is a massively influential player and person within the group and will bring his own personality and style to the role, with the full backing of the entire squad and management. It is hard to believe that at just 24, Joe has already played over 100 times for the club and become a cornerstone of the England pack.

"With regards to Chris, I have been speaking to him about the dual role of captaining both England and Harlequins for some time. He has a massive year ahead of him and I feel that we should relieve him of some of the pressure, which will allow him to focus on being at his best for both club and country.

"We are extremely grateful to Chris for the four seasons that he captained the club, of which three were spent captaining both Harlequins and England. We want him to be at his best for Harlequins, win trophies here and also lift the World Cup next year. To do so we believe he needs to be fresh both mentally and physically, hence why we have made this decision now."

Marler, 24, will be one of the youngest club captains in Premiership history but despite his relatively tender years, he has already made over 100 appearances for Harlequins alongside his 22 England caps.

"Firstly I want to pay tribute to how well Chris has done over the last four years, leading us through the most successful period we have had as a club," Marler said. "It will be good to be able to take the pressure off him as he heads into a huge year with England. I'm really honoured to be asked to lead a special group like this and a great club, and I can't wait to get stuck in!"

Congratulations to @JoeMarler - the start of a hugely exciting chapter for both Joe and the club
— Harlequins (@QuinsRugbyUnion) August 4, 2014

And of course thanks to @ChrisRobshaw for his service over 4 hugely successful years. A big 15 months ahead for him for club and country
— Harlequins (@QuinsRugbyUnion) August 4, 2014

Makes sense to me, it'll be a big year for Chris and any little bit to help him out with England is a good thing. For Quins the more leaders the better and I was never the biggest Easter as captain fan.

by **Notch** Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:05 pm

The guy with the silly haircuts? Fair enough, good luck to him. This could be the making of him, as a 24-year old prop one day he will be hugely experienced 30-year old prop with lots of leadership experience.

by Sam Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:23 pm

Notch wrote:The guy with the silly haircuts? Fair enough, good luck to him. This could be the making of him, as a 24-year old prop one day he will be hugely experienced 30-year old prop with lots of leadership experience.

That guy indeed! Should be interesting to see how he gets on. COYQ!!

by HammerofThunor Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:26 pm

It seems like O'Shay uses the captaincy to develop leaders rather be the 'best man for the job'. I don't think the choice of captain is of much importance above communicating with the ref. If Robshaw is there he'll still be leading, just as Easter does, like Evans does and Skinner did. I surprising call for me but it should be good for him.

by bluestonevedder Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:28 pm

Have to admit I didn't think Marler would ever captain, but fair play to him! Even though he's improved his temperament on the field, maybe this is an extra incentive from O'Shea to further keep it under control?

Marler certainly had a brilliant season last year, this surely must cap it off for him.

by Geordie Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:51 pm

You forget sometimes he's ony 24. As Notch says...in a couple of years he's going to be some player if he stays fit and continues to progress and work on his game.

by HammerofThunor Mon 04 Aug 2014, 4:58 pm

Although COS did say when he broke through at 20/21 that they would rest him and break him in gently as he was still developing and didn't want to 'damage' him from too much too soon...a few months of him being SIGNIFICANTLY better than Ceri Jones and he starting most games (from memory).

Edit: A significantly better in the scrum is what I mean. He's got some stick for that but at Quins most of the issues seemed to come on Johnson's side and when refs stopped bothering penalising him for binding on the arm the Quins scrum did well (they also had problems with a under-powered second row when Kohn was missing). I even remember Fitzpatrick highlighting his long bind as a weakness and now refs are demanding it (so the new laws are probably benefiting him, but that's because they're supposed to make teams scrum rather than hit hard and hope the other sides fall down first).

by ChequeredJersey Mon 04 Aug 2014, 7:21 pm

Congrats Joe. Think in the long term it gives England another leader and Quins too. Chris and others will be helping Marler out anyway and Chris is a lead by example captain so I really don't see a downside except that petty fools might now use this as another stick to hit Robshaw with. Yeah, Stuart Barnes, that means you.

by yappysnap Mon 04 Aug 2014, 7:34 pm

Agree with all of that hammer. Ironically it was the long bind that have him the most trouble as it let oppos bind in his arm too easily.

Exciting season ahead for him and another reason he's better then Mako Wink

by Welly Mon 04 Aug 2014, 10:56 pm

England should drop Robshaw and put up Armitage now.

by ChequeredJersey Mon 04 Aug 2014, 11:00 pm

Welly wrote:England should drop Robshaw and put up Armitage now.

That had better be a joke...

by Welly Mon 04 Aug 2014, 11:18 pm

If I was joking I would say a horse walks into a bar and the barman says hey buddy why the long face.

Quins clearly think Robshaw is going downhill.

Wink

by ChequeredJersey Mon 04 Aug 2014, 11:21 pm

Don't you winky face me! Wink

by Geordie Tue 05 Aug 2014, 9:52 am

Armitage will be wearing Le Bleu of France soon...mark my words.

Quins are going to have some front row...

1 Marler
2 Buchanan (Powerful and aggresive)
3 Sinkler

Then you can move Ward back to 7 where his breakdown skills are class Very Happy

by Cumbrian Tue 05 Aug 2014, 10:16 am

Their back up isn't all that bad either:

01. Mark Lambert
02. Joe Gray
03. Will Collier

by HongKongCherry Tue 05 Aug 2014, 1:55 pm

It'll be interesting to see what the refs make of this appointment! He is very good at getting under the skin of the opposite prop, but will such antics affect his influence with refs?

by funnyExiledScot Tue 05 Aug 2014, 3:20 pm

He strikes me as being on the hot headed side of the line, but the captaincy can make players and I suspect O'Shea is looking for a reaction from Marler to this additional responsibility.

He's been solid for England and has become a front line international prop. This appointment seems to have come at a good time for him.

Not sure what to make of Quins next season. I like what Bath have done and suspect that they, Saints, Sarries and Leicester will make up the top 4, but just looking down the Quins squad you can see them doing pretty well next year.

by ChequeredJersey Tue 05 Aug 2014, 3:27 pm

If our first team stays fit we will do fine. Last year at had some horrific moments when we had no centres at all or no locks

by Sam Wed 06 Aug 2014, 4:09 pm

I think quite a few people see him as being hot headed still but I think he's calmed down over the last few seasons, especially since earning some England caps.

I agree CJ suprised we didn't give Molonaar a new 1y contract. Backrow options have been cut too with Mo and Guest going.

by Geordie Thu 07 Aug 2014, 11:37 am

Well i agree with you Sam, i dont see that hot headedness anymore.

Regardless if he does have it...fire in the belly is what you need....didnt Mr Johnson have a bit of that and he wasnt a bad captain...

by ChequeredJersey Fri 08 Aug 2014, 7:18 pm

TIKOIROTUMA STARTS AGAINST FC GRENOBLE
Friday, 8th August 2014 @ 12:00

HARLEQUINS HAS NAMED THE SIDE TO PLAY FC GRENOBLE ON SATURDAY EVENING AT THE STADE DES ALPES, IN THE FIRST OF THREE PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES AHEAD OF THE 2014/15 SEASON (LIVE ON L’EQUIPE 21).

The fixture against the Top 14 side will conclude the senior squad’s pre-season training camp in Alpe D’Huez. The eight England summer tourists have spent the week in camp, but are unavailable for selection.

With Ollie Lindsay-Hague flying back yesterday to play in tonight’s Premiership Rugby 7s finals, the back three sees Ross Chisholm start at full-back, while Charlie Walker and Ugo Monye start on the wings.

Summer signing Aseli Tikoirotuma starts in the centres and partners double Junior World Cup winner Harry Sloan.

Karl Dickson and Nick Evans complete the backs at scrum-half and fly-half.

Among the forwards, Mark Lambert, Rob Buchanan and Will Collier start in the front row, with Nick Easter captaining the side from Number 8.

First year Academy member Charlie Piper will look to make his first Harlequins appearance from the bench.

Only two players are expected to be missing for the start of the season due to their long-term injuries carried over from last season. George Lowe has been given the all clear from specialists to resume contact training and he is expected to be available in October, while Tom Casson is recovering from surgery in May and is expected back at the same time.

Harlequins team

15. Ross Chisholm
14. Charlie Walker
13. Aseli Tikoirotuma
12. Harry Sloan
11. Ugo Monye
10. Nick Evans
9. Karl Dickson

1. Mark Lambert
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Will Collier
4. Sam Twomey
5. Charlie Matthews
6. Joe Trayfoot
7. Luke Wallace
8. Nick Easter (C)

16. Charlie Piper
17. Darryl Marfo
18. Paul Doran Jones
19. Kieran Treadwell
20. Jack Clifford
21. Sam Stuart
22. Ben Botica
23. Louis Grimoldby

by propdavid_london Mon 18 Aug 2014, 1:53 pm

Paul Doran Jones is still going to be bench warmer! There is someone that really wasnt a great purchace for the club and probably is on a fairly good salary too.
I'm glad that the younger props in Daryl Marfo and Kyle Sinkler are doing such a good job that we arent over reliant on PDJ.

by Geordie Mon 18 Aug 2014, 2:40 pm

Sinkler and Collier will keep Doran Jones out the match day squads.

by propdavid_london Tue 19 Aug 2014, 8:28 am

I should hope so GF - I was just saying that PDJ was a poor aquisition.

by Geordie Tue 19 Aug 2014, 8:33 am

He had potential so i can understand the signing...and your scrum coach has a great reputation...maybe they thought they could bring out the potential....alas he just isnt ever going to make it.

by propdavid_london Tue 19 Aug 2014, 8:42 am

Yes, bit of a gamble that didnt pay off. Suspect contracts wont be renewed there.
Quins still look like they need another center and another Lock on the books.

On the Marler issue, I think this can only be a good thing for him and hopefully Quins - there are plenty of others with leadership qualities around him. Robson, Evans, Easter, Robshaw, Care, are all guys that will help out when needed and are there.
I think Ward captained the side a few times last year - so did Wallace in LV games.

by Poorfour Wed 20 Aug 2014, 10:36 am

PDJ was disappointing last season but it's a bit early to write him off completely. It generally takes at least a year for a prop brought in from outside to have an impact. It took Mike Ross and James Johnston a year or so to settle, and the same for John Andress to a lesser extent. That said, the problem for PDJ is that our homegrown props integrate way faster - it took Marler less than a year to supplant Ceri Jones (himself no slouch) and Collier and Sinckler half a year each to reach Saxons standard. I think he will be much better this year, but I'd agree that he probably won't get renewed.

I still grin every time I think of Marler as captain. I think he will bring huge enthusiasm and fun to the team and that it will probably benefit him personally a huge amount. Good for Quins, doubly good for England as Robshaw can focus on that job and he will have additional support on the field in Joe (and 36, and possibly Haskell).

by Geordie Wed 20 Aug 2014, 10:39 am

Can you get Marler to have a few more steaks please...i'd like to see him push up over the 18st mark.

Oh and Twelvettrees is a huge gamble as captain...purely for the fact i dont think we have seen the best of him...if he ever moves out from being "potential".

Id have given him another season to see if he can bring out the talent many think is there. He's got a massive season ahead in terms of proving his ability on the field and adding the captaincy is a big ask.

by Poorfour Wed 20 Aug 2014, 10:46 am

If he bulks up, he might lose some of his pace around the pitch, which is just starting to come into effect at international level. I think he's strong enough that he can afford to give away a little weight at scrum time, especially under the new engagement laws. Would help if England had bigger locks, though.

by Scrumpy Wed 20 Aug 2014, 10:49 am

Marler as Captain.

Laugh

by Geordie Wed 20 Aug 2014, 10:52 am

Thats the problem Poorfour, our England team is balanced so we need some more bulk in there at the coal face. Corbs is well over 18st and he didnt have issues with his ability around the park. Im not sure Joe would either...and that would just give a little more weight in there that we are missing.

I also think that Quins would benefit as they tend to have quite a lightweight pack.

Scrumpy, why is that a laugh??

by Scrumpy Wed 20 Aug 2014, 10:58 am

Because lets face it if you were to ask most fans here who would be the next Quins Capt very few would have said Marler.

Almost as bad as picking Wayne Rooney as Captain! Laugh

by Geordie Wed 20 Aug 2014, 11:06 am

I think Marler could be a great captain.

And people dont know what type of personality he is in the changing rooms and on the training pitch.

He might be an inspiration. Just make sure he gets the biggest steaks Wink

by Scrumpy Wed 20 Aug 2014, 11:12 am

I think its more a case of Robshaw will still be captain on the field and just needs a Donkey to take the load off the pitch.

by Poorfour Wed 20 Aug 2014, 11:29 am

Scrumpy wrote:Because lets face it if you were to ask most fans here who would be the next Quins Capt very few would have said Marler.

Almost as bad as picking Wayne Rooney as Captain!

Nowhere near as bad as that! Marler is a big character, an even bigger jester (appropriately enough) and has had a reputation as a hothead (but hasn't actually done anything for a season or two), but if you've ever seen his video interviews for England it's clear that he's smart enough to run rings around his interviewers. Mostly he uses this for fun - his usual tactic is to deadpan the interviewer until they say something stupid and then take the mick out of them mercilessly for the rest of the interview.

Picking Joe as captain was not an obvious choice but having been made it looks like it could be inspired. Joe's a definite starter, he has a nice line in banter with referees (important when you're picking someone who could be intimidating), and of the whole Quins squad he's probably the one best placed to make the captaincy his own (and get away with telling CR to get lost if he sticks his oar in too much). Evans and Care have other jobs to do, Easter is a great player but rarely seems to get the best out of himself or the team as captain, Robson and Wallace have been decent LV Captains but would be in the shadow of more senior players, Brown is probably too far from the coalface for modern captaincy.

It may not work, but I think it has a greater chance of being an inspired choice than a failure.

by Geordie Wed 20 Aug 2014, 11:35 am

Robshaw will certainly be a leader but not sure you can say Marler will be the donkey.

by propdavid_london Wed 20 Aug 2014, 2:08 pm

Good points Poorfour - I think it could work well with Marler. As you say he's not intimidated well and has a good raport with the referees - not many would ask a ref in a prem game if he was wearing colourful boots as a bet!

When not with England he is a great choice and has a good strong leadership group backing him up in most games. Well done CoS I think. But, lets see how we go.

I'm looking forward to this season. Going to be very interesting - LI first up is a huge game, everyone wants to win the 1st game.

by ChequeredJersey Wed 20 Aug 2014, 5:20 pm

In Conor we trust. Almost always and this isn't an almost occasion

by ChequeredJersey Wed 20 Aug 2014, 5:22 pm

In terms of Marler bulking up: I'm not sure it will have a huge effect on the scrum at least, most of the pushing power and weight is generated by locks not props who are the technical point of the scrum even more so under the new laws. Maybe in the loose it will add bulk but if Joe loses acceleration (which depends where and how he puts the weight on) then we won't gain in power

by Geordie Thu 21 Aug 2014, 8:47 am

I appreciate power really comes through from the locks but weight in the front row is important.

I would suggest aside from maybe Matthews (you missed Kohn) both Quins and England dont have the best scrummaging locks in the business.

by Poorfour Thu 21 Aug 2014, 10:32 am

GeordieFalcon wrote:I appreciate power really comes through from the locks but weight in the front row is important.

I would suggest aside from maybe Matthews (you missed Kohn) both Quins and England dont have the best scrummaging locks in the business.

Quins have been looking a bit light on locks since Olly retired last season, but I think we are banking on Merrick and Twomey stepping up, and Matthews fulfilling his potential. From what I could see at the end of last season, Matthews is getting to grips with how to use his bulk better in the loose (he's always been solid in the scrum) and Twomey and Merrick are handy if somewhat raw.

by propdavid_london Thu 21 Aug 2014, 3:30 pm

But neither Twomey or Merrick are the big lumps that you need sometimes! They both fill the more athletic type lock persona...
They might fill out a bit more - as they and Matthews are all recent graduates from academy, but they seem to remind me more of the James Gaskell type of player rather than the Simon Shaw type of player.

by Poorfour Thu 21 Aug 2014, 4:19 pm

According to Quins offy, Matthews is 6'7" and just over 18 stone, Merrick is the same height and nearly 19 stone and Twomey is 6'5" but also over 18 stone. Olly Kohn is 6'7" and was nicknamed 20-stone Kohn - but then he's ten years older than those guys.

One of the things I like about Matthews is that he's a big unit but also athletic enough to be a primary lineout jumper. His issue until late last season was body position in the ruck and tackle, which meant he tended to be knocked over too easily. He seems to have improved that now.

Merrick is fast enough around the pitch to have been part of the 7s squad last May (albeit a fairly desperate pick), but he's not tiny by any stretch. For comparison, Eben Etzebeth (who I think is a good example of a big lock who's also athletic, and is a couple of years ahead of the Quins lot) is the same height and about 7 pounds heavier than Merrick.

by propdavid_london Fri 22 Aug 2014, 3:19 pm

Yes, its always a bit more about perception rather than the actual stats - they are all big chaps, but dont yet seem to dominate the collisions like youd want any lock to do. There is still plenty of time on their side though.

by Poorfour Fri 22 Aug 2014, 4:22 pm

I think for a lot of locks there's a period of adjustment when they go from U20 to senior level.

Most of them will have been huge from their mid-teens and they will have been used to being able to bosh their way around the park against their age group peers who will generally be smaller, less well developed and less skilled at felling trees.

But there's a huge difference in physicality between even the biggest U20s or academy players and a seasoned pro - suddenly the technique that worked against their peers doesn't cut it against older players who've done their bulking out and are used to dealing with big lumps. It usually takes a season or two for them to adjust and get the right body position. Matthews used to go into the contact area far too upright and get driven back as a result. At the end of last season he'd begun to go in with the right positioning and was making more yards.

by Poorfour Thu 28 Aug 2014, 7:20 pm

Scrumpy wrote:Because lets face it if you were to ask most fans here who would be the next Quins Capt very few would have said Marler.

Almost as bad as picking Wayne Rooney as Captain!

Well, Scrumpy, now we will get the chance to find out: BBC Sport

by sad_gimp Fri 29 Aug 2014, 8:05 pm

I think this season will be the making of a Quins and England legend. Great call from CoS.

That and I like the videos of his pet ducks he posts on twitter

by Poorfour Mon 01 Sep 2014, 8:57 am

I got the chance to ask Will Skinner his views on Cap'n Marler at a Quins STH event on Sunday. He said it was "one of the best decisions Conor's made since dropping me as captain" and that he (Will) had actually taken Joe aside when he was still in the academy and told him he could be captain of Quins one day.

I was surprised by the depth of feeling - it was clear from the response that it went way beyond the party line and the guys who have been around the club for a while have a huge amount of faith in him.

by Scrumpy Mon 08 Sep 2014, 9:55 am

I see he picked up a needless yellow card then!

by Geordie Mon 08 Sep 2014, 9:57 am

Well it was a bit daft...a dump tackle. But he will know himself it was silly.

His discipline is very good and has been for a couple of years. Dont know why he still has a bad rep about that.

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