New captain for Chiefs
JUL
Exeter Chiefs’ management has today appointed Alan Miller as club captain and Tom Hayes as the 1st XV captain for the coming season following Richie Baxter’s decision to step down from the captaincy role.
Devon-born flanker Miller has been an Exeter Chiefs player for six seasons and has played in 113 games for the club. Hayes was new to Chiefs last season but was a constant part of the starting line-up and brings with him the captaincy experience he acquired at Plymouth Albion.
Chiefs’ head coach Rob Baxter said: “We have decided to change the structure slightly this season with Alan Miller being responsible for the squad as a whole as club captain. His role will be managing the players’ committee and being a link between the players and the management. Alan’s work ethic and no nonsense approach to being a professional player, as well as his sense of loyalty and pride in being an Exeter player, made him an ideal choice for this position.
“Often player committees can become a forum for individual moans often caused by inevitable situations that arise from professional sport. Alan has always dealt with these situations impeccably and I am sure he will imbue this quality in the rest of the squad. I am a firm believer in teams needing a sense of history and identity and I know Alan will help develop this too.”
“Tommy’s focus will therefore be on game preparation and match day. I have already enjoyed working with Tommy in some leadership roles within the team at lineout and restart and I would expect him to continue to develop his work in these areas.
“Developing a good working relationship with the referees in our league, especially at the start of the season when law variations are being used for the first time, will also be vital. Communication between players and referees is becoming an increasingly important aspect of rugby especially with the competition at the breakdown. Obviously, fully understanding our game-plan and being able to react to various situations will be key areas and Tommy’s game intelligence and understanding made him an obvious choice. Tommy had a good season last year and will now need to show that form and more while leading the team.”
“I am confident that the rest of the squad will be fully behind Alan and Tommy and support and work with them through the forthcoming season.”
Miller said: “It was a great honour to be asked and it would have been hard to turn it down. This is a great club with a great bunch of boys around this year, so hopefully I will not have too much to do.
“It would be an even greater honour if we were to go up at the end of this year. It would be great to have that on my CV and to help write a piece of Exeter history.”
Lock-cum-No 8 Hayes, who also captained Shannon RFC, said: “It is a big show of face by Rob in me and I am definitely pleased to have been asked and I hope I can repay him in kind.
“It is particular honour to be asked to be a captain at a club with such a long history as Exeter. It is also a big responsibility to be asked to captain a team that is hoping to break into the Premiership. That is something that will have to be worked on, but hopefully I can make the most of it.”
