LEEDS have taken the captaincy away from England scrum-half Luke Gale.

The 33-year-old former Castleford player was left out of coach Richard Agar’s team for last Friday’s game against Salford and the club say he has been “stood down” as captain “for behaviours not aligned to team trademarks.”

In a statement, Gale said: “I would like to apologise to everyone connected to the club for my behaviour, which fell below the standards expected of our team.