Sam Thaiday says the Brisbane captaincy is a crown he can do without and has given his blessing to Darius Boyd to assume the mantle next NRL season.
Boyd put in a captain's knock in the Broncos' 30-10 win over South Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, setting up two of his side's three first half tries.
Asked to fill in as skipper following the suspension of Corey Parker, Boyd led from the front as his patch of career-best form continued.
Wayne Bennett was tight-lipped about whether handing Boyd the stand-in captaincy was a portent of things to come in 2017, with Parker set to retire at the end of the year.
Thaiday shaped as a natural successor, having held the role under Anthony Griffin in 2012-13, however he declared it was something he could do without.
Boyd now appears to be the leading candidate, along with Adam Blair, Andrew McCullough and Ben Hunt.
"He can have it," Thaiday said.
"I'm coming to the end of my career and I don't want to do it for two years and then retire.
"I'd much prefer to see it go to a young guy and I'm happy to help out any way I can in that support role.
"But I've had my chance and I've done my time as the captain. I don't necessarily have the 'C' next to my name to be a leader.
"I'd love to see it go to a young guy - a Darius Boyd, an Andrew McCullough or a Ben Hunt."
Boyd said while he coveted the role, all he could do was continue to lead with his actions.
"It's up to Wayne," Boyd said.
"Wayne told me today (that he would be stand-in captain) and I wanted to do a good job and lead the boys as best I could and lead with my actions.
"I was pretty happy with the way I played, that's all I could do."
