Kirmond Handed Wildcats Captaincy

Danny Kirmond has been named as the new captain of Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
 
Kirmond was chosen by Head Coach Richard Agar as vice-captain at the start of 2012 but has now taken over the main role from Steve Southern with Richard Mathers stepping up to become vice-captain.
 
Southern will remain part of Agar’s senior players group as the Wildcats look to build on back-to-back wins for the first time in Stobart Super League XVII when Hull FC visit the Rapid Solicitors Stadium this Sunday.
 
A former amateur player at local club Stanley Rangers, Kirmond admits he is honoured to be confirmed as skipper of his hometown team.
 
“It is something I am really proud of and it’s a massive honour to captain your home town club,” he told the weekly press conference where the news was announced this afternoon.
 
“It is not something that I have really looked at doing before but being given the opportunity is a huge accolade for myself.
 
“I’ve never been a captain elsewhere and when I came here I was the vice-captain which I feel helped myself out on the field and helped me push just that little bit harder. As soon as the opportunity came up to step up to the next level it really was something I wanted to grab hold of with both hands.”
 
“It is the way we have been rolling for a while and it’s not something we have made a massive issue of by putting it out there in the press,” commented Agar.
 
“Danny Kirmond had been captaining the side when Steve Southern got injured.  Steve spent 4-5 weeks on the sideline and has since started a number of games on the bench this year so we just felt internally, having spoken to Steve, that he was happy in relinquishing the role and concentrating on his own game and fitness.
 
“He was not having the sort of impact as captain that we thought he might have done and that was probably due to injuries and we want to get the most out of him as an individual and as a player. That is something we changed a couple of weeks ago but nobody picked up on it but we now feel the time is right to tell everyone.”
 
“Danny was our vice-captain and we feel he has really grown into the role. At the start of the year he was given the opportunity to captain due to Steve’s injury and it coincided with a real up-spurt in form for him and I think his stature within the group during that time has grown.
 
“He took on the responsibility and the mantle of being captain extremely well and we think it has had an extremely positive impact on his game and a big impact on the group in terms of his leadership.”