Young Tonumaipea has the chance to stake a claim for Marika Koroibete's vacant winger jersey when he leads the Melbourne Storm in this weekend's Auckland Nines competition.
The 24-year-old flyer becomes the first Victorian to captain the Melbourne side, earning the honour alongside forward Kenny Bromwich.
The wing berth for the Storm's opening NRL game against the Bulldogs on March 3 will be hotly contested following Koroibete's code hop to the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby side.
Tonumaipea had a starting role for the first six games last season but suffered a knee injury, with Suliasi Vunivalu then proving impossible to dislodge as the competition's top try-scorer.
Vunivalu will again be in the starting line-up, with Josh Addo-Carr, signed from Wests Tigers, and Tonumaipea among the front-runners to join him.
But after impressing in pre-season training and earning the co-captaincy role, Tonumaipea is off to a flying start.
Tonumaipea said he was thrilled to follow the likes of Cameron Smith in leading the club.
"It's a massive honour and especially coming from Melbourne, it's a massive thing for me," Tonumaipea said.
"I've grown up watching this team and supporting this team, so to lead out the squad this weekend is a massive opportunity."
While it is only the nines format, Tonumaipea said it is a chance to showcase his skills.
"Nines is a good opportunity, not only for me but for the young fellas to go out there and show your skills and versatility," he said.
"Last year I felt we went really well and I think it set up a great year for us."
Both captains named the lightning-fast Addo-Carr as well as Curtis Scott, who was the talk of last year's tournament before breaking his leg in round four, as players to watch.
The Storm's first game is against Brisbane on Saturday at 12.15pm (AEDT) followed by games against Newcastle Knights and Wests Tigers.
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