Sydney Roosters signing Angus Crichton admits being in an awkward position as captain in his first appearance for the NRL club on Saturday.
Crichton has been named skipper in what is a mainly reserve-grade Roosters outfit's final pre-season hit-out against Manly in Gosford.
It'll be his first showing of the year after being ruled out of last month's World Club Challenge triumph due to off-season shoulder surgery.
"After I was ruled out of WCC, I was always aiming to play in this Manly trial and get some kilometres in the legs coming into round one," Crichton said on Friday.
"I have been doing contact for the last month, started ramping it up the last two weeks, and feeling pretty good, really confident and ready to rip in."
The former South Sydney second-rower will lead a squad with only a sprinkling of NRL experience, including Brock Lamb, Lindsay Collins and Nat Butcher.
Crichton said he was elated when approached by coach Trent Robinson to take on the role this week, despite only arriving at the club in December.
"We've got a pretty young squad coming into this weekend and I guess it's a weird position I find myself in, still being young myself," he said.
"I just naturally was leading at training and Trent just came up to me and said you've taken on that role, so you'll be leading the boys out.
"First game for the Roosters and as captain, I'm pretty stoked.
"I've just got to find a way to get the boys to play their best footy and feel comfortable out there in what'll be a pretty big occasion for a lot of them."
The NSW State of Origin representative also said playing alongside the likes of Cooper Cronk and Boyd Cordner were major factors in joining the club.
Crichton labelled Cronk "the best half in the game", while Cordner's standing as captain at NRL, Origin and Test level was a big drawcard.
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