Will Gower lose Penrith captaincy?

[DIEHARD]

Do you think the board of the Penrith Panthers will move to strip Gower of captaincy of the Panthers?

And if he does who should lead the Panthers?
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Shamed Gower begs for job

Shamed Penrith halfback Craig Gower broke a two-week media ban last night to declare: "I want to keep the Penrith captaincy."

Gower will front the Penrith board on Wednesday in the aftermath of his drunken behaviour at the Jack Newton celebrity golf tournament on the Sunshine Coast two weeks ago.

The Penrith board will consider a fine and/or axing him from the captaincy as punishment for allegedly groping the daughter of league legend Wayne Pearce and being involved in other drunken incidents.

But Gower last night told The Sunday Telegraph he desperately wanted to keep the captaincy.

"I didn't really want to talk before I met with the board," Gower said. "But as for suggestions I might throw in the captaincy, that's wrong.

"I regard it as a great honour and it's something I want to keep. I've just got to front the board and see what happens. To be honest, I don't know what to expect."

Coach John Lang yesterday distanced himself from the speculation over Gower's future as skipper but said he would meet the halfback for talks on Tuesday.

"I haven't spoken to Craig about anything because I've been away on holidays," Lang said.

"The whole captaincy issue is a matter for the board and not me. All I will say is that Craig is an outstanding on-field leader."

Last week Gower issued a one-paragraph apology to the Pearce family in a statement: "With regard to an incident at Twin Waters last Monday, December 19, to the extent that I have caused the Pearce family any discomfort, I unreservedly apologise."

The Penrith board met on Friday to discuss a report into Gower's behaviour that was compiled by football manager Mick Leary. It was decided Gower had a case to answer but at no stage did board members discuss possible punishment.

Kiwi international Tony Puletua said he is ready to lead the Panthers should Gower be stripped of the captaincy. Puletua, who has signed with Penrith until 2009, said that while he would be disappointed for Gower, he would take up the captaincy if offered.

"It would be awesome to lead the Panthers," he said. "But I haven't even spoken to Craig about it and I would like to before I say too much. We are going back to training soon so I'm sure we will all sit down and talk about it.

"For me, it's disappointing because Craig is such an awesome leader on the field. If you put aside what happened he is still a great player. If he does lose (the captaincy) I'm sure he will be able to move on. He will still be a leader on the field and it won't affect the way he plays"

Puletua would be favoured to replace Gower ahead of hooker Luke Priddis because of the amount of work the big second-rower does at the club.

"I do a lot of the off-field stuff," Puletua said. "Gower leads on the field and I lead off the field, that's the system we have here.

"I come in for the young ones and they come and talk to me.

"We have a lot of young Islanders and they look up to me, so I have to be a role model."

NRL spokesman John Brady said the governing body would review any action taken by the Panthers this week and said they have the power to penalise the club should they handle the matter inappropriately.

The Sunday Telegraph

[DIEHARD]

I think yes and rightfully so.

I also believe that Luke Priddis would make a worthy captain of Penrith.

[Super Cronk]

I think he should have it stripped, but i dont think the panthers will do that. They will give him a big fine and prolly a few suspension (that he will work off during trials). The fact that he actually came out the next day and denied everything and then a week later apologises for it just shows how low he is. He has had problems like this in the past and something needs to be done soon....he needs to wake up to himself, if stripping the (C) off of him will do that then im all for it.

[Luke]

I think he should lose his captaincy. But he will only cop a fine.

[Queenslander]

Will Gower be stripped of captaincy?
I would be very surprised if they did... so my answer is no but he deserves to lose it. He will likely get a fine and some "community service"

[League Freak]

Im not sure....


I'd be surprised if they did take it off him. I think Tony Puletua is the man for the job just because he does so much off the field.


Puletua is as Penrith as you will find.

[..::Coops::..]

i don't think Penrith will strip Gower of the captaincy, he probably get a fine and suspension and as someone else said before the suspension will be down before regular season begins.

[Ipswich Fan]

I think he should be stripped of his captaincy to show both the league community & the other players at Penrith that they are serious about their players behaving themselves. The other effect it will have is the other players will realise that if Gower can get punished heavily than any player in the club will.