Dave Craven: Big boots to fill but Sinfield does deserve to be among game’s elite

“He’s a great player but you just can’t imagine the Aussies lying in bed worrying about him,” he offered.

“He’s not really big enough to hurt them as a loose forward or fast enough for a half.”

I could see his point. Yet, simultaneously, I had this nagging feeling England would never beat the old enemy unless Sinfield WAS somewhere in that side, maybe a little of that old mantra of making sure you simply get your best players on the field regardless of who plays where.

All of which meant there was little surprise from me when, firstly, the Leeds Rhinos and England captain won the Golden Boot as the world’s greatest player on Friday and, secondly, this amusing row erupted over his worthiness for such an honour.

That’s because Sinfield has always polarised opinion, some insisting he is the most-overrated of his generation and others adamant he is the most integral.

Personally, I think his record speaks for itself – leading Rhinos to five titles in the last six years alone plus three World Club triumphs including last year’s against Manly, is unlikely to be bettered by any captain while he always plays such a significant role.

But even by the Australians’ standards – often so myopic when it comes to rugby league – it is laughable the outcry which has emanated. Those Aussies are certainly worrying about him now... Sinfield became only the fourth from these shores since its inception in 1984 to win the sport’s most prestigious individual accolade, following Ellery Hanley (1988), Garry Schofield (1990) and Andy Farrell (2004).

Of course, Schofield only picked up his retrospectively in 2011. The competition’s sponsors Adidas had stormed off in a huff in 1990, incandescent that for a second time a non-Aussie had won even though the majestic Leeds stand-off was incredible that year. Are you beginning to see the picture?

That sent the award into a hiatus for almost a decade but history proves the selectors – Rugby League World magazine (formerly Open Rugby and published here in Yorkshire) – cannot be accused of any British bias.

For 2012, Sinfield beat off stellar names including Melbourne Storm, Queensland and Australia captain Cameron Smith who led all three sides to success, his team-mate in each Cooper Cronk, the exhilarating Canterbury Bulldogs full-back Ben Barba who won the NRL’s finest player award and our own Sam Tomkins, Super League Man of Steel. Without doubt, each has claims but let’s look more closely.

Surely, the very essence of professional sport is winning and, in a team sport, it always takes a team effort to do that not just the eye-catching skills of one individual. I would argue Sinfield – who readily concedes he is not the most elaborate – is the most integral to helping a side achieve that ultimate aim.

Barba and Tomkins, certainly, are currently the two most thrilling players on the planet but that does not necessarily mean they are automatically the best. For all his brilliance, Barba did not even feature in State of Origin, or represent Australia and had no telling influence on the Grand Final in which his side lost to Melbourne.

Many of Sinfield’s British dissenters feel the dashing Tomkins should have taken the Golden Boot and you can understand that.

But, ultimately, for all his flair, Tomkins and his Wigan side failed to even reach the Challenge Cup or Grand Final.

True, Sinfield did not make the Super League Dream Team or even Rugby League World’s own team of the year but both those, and the Man of Steel, are decided before the end of the season when the Leeds captain normally performs his heroics at Old Trafford.

Last year he also led England for the first time, admittedly against callow opposition in Wales and France, but that was only because Australia opted not to face Steve McNamara’s side. His knockers will point to Sinfield’s continued failure in the Challenge Cup after they fell against Warrington at Wembley again last year.

However, they forget the NRL has no such equivalent knockout competition.

Would Smith have been able to inspire Melbourne to a Challenge Cup victory on top of his other achievements? Unlikely, but we will never know as the Australians do not have that added pressure on their season.

Sinfield – who played throughout 2012 with a broken wrist – will perhaps not win over his critics unless he leads England to a World Cup success this year or moves to the NRL, the latter of which will not now happen at the age of 32.

It is interesting, though, to read how Australian legend Darren Lockyer, a Golden Boot double winner, is adamant Sinfield would not only star in the NRL but prove one of the greatest captains too.

It may yet prove to be one of his few regrets, not chancing his arm over there like England colleagues Adrian Morley, Sam Burgess and James Graham.

Regardless, the debate will rage about his quality and it may take a lot longer for many to fully appreciate it.

But in 20 years’ time, when he has long packed in, I’m sure people will look back at the list of legendary Golden Boot winners and realise Sinfield – for different reasons – will never look out of place alongside messrs Lewis, Sterling, Hanley, Johns or Lockyer.

and another thing...

I HOPED I would never witness it happen but, now that it has, I can only applaud it.

It took some guts for AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng to walk off the field after being subjected to racist abuse in a ‘friendly’ match last week.

Some will argue it is giving in to the mindless morons who bring such trash to a football game but I feel it needed something like this to really highlight the issue once more.

We have seen how ludicrously weak the punishment of the Serbian FA was after the racism in the England Under-21s fixture recently and perhaps Boateng thought that enough was enough.

He claims he would do the same in a Champions League fixture if need be and, thankfully, Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has publicly backed him, or any player receiving such abuse, to do exactly the same.

Let’s hope it doesn’t ever come to that and there does not need to be a repeat episode of what happened last week.

However, my gut feeling is players walking off the field of play in disgust could become a more regular occurrence before this vile crime is ridden from the sport for good.