The Wests Tigers have taken the baffling decision to name five captains for the 2022 in a "leadership group."
Players voted for the leadership group during a training camp last week, with James Tamou being retained alongside Adam Doueihi, Luke Brooks, Ken Maumalo and Tyrone Peachey.
Tamou had an underwhelming 2021 campaign and opened up during the week over his expectations of not remaining in the role for 2022. Doueihi has been touted as the red-hot favourite to take over the role, however, his injury for the first half of the season as he recovers from an ACL rupture was always going to be a sticking point.
Brooks joins the group as the most capped player in NRL history to never play in the finals, while Ken Maumalo joined the club from the Warriors last year on the wing, and utility Peachey is one of this year's new recruits.
It's not the first time the Tigers have made the decision to have a five-pronged leadership group, with Ivan Cleary employing a similar strategy in 2018 when he named Chris Lawrence, Elijah Taylor, Benji Marshall, Russell Packer and Josh Reynolds to lead the side.
The Tigers would finish that season in ninth spot.
An official club statement suggests the five players will share the captaincy duties throughout 2022.
Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe, in a short statement, said he looked forward to working with the group throughout the season.
“On behalf of everyone at Wests Tigers I would like to congratulate the five players on their appointment to the club’s leadership group ahead of the 2022 season,” Pascoe said.
“It’s great to have a group that consist of players in different stages of their careers, and I look forward to working closely with this group over the coming year.”
The decision to name five players to the leadership group seems to highlight the Tigers issues, which have been all too common under the coaching of Michael Maguire over the last 12 months.
The club finished in the bottom four on the table in 2021, with Tamou an underwhelming leader in the middle, but few other players standing up.
Doueihi was the club's best performer, however, even that wasn't enough with the Tigers conceding more than 30 points on 14 occasions throughout the year.
Maguire had to fight for his job at the end of the season, with a club review seeing him narrowly survive under new director of football Tim Sheens.
The Tigers will open their 2022 campaign with a difficult home clash against the Melbourne Storm, who ran on 66 points last time the sides met on the Sunshine Coast last year during the Queensland hub.
