Jesse Bromwich has credited a Collingwood AFL legend for helping develop his leadership qualities as he works towards becoming the Dolphins' inaugural captain in the NRL.
The 33-year-old New Zealand skipper and former co-captain of the Storm is one of the front runners to be given the prestigious job at the Dolphins in 2023.
Three-time NRL premiership winner Bromwich, who led the Storm for two seasons after the retirement of Cameron Smith, came under the wing of Collingwood's premiership-winning skipper Nick Maxwell who was Melbourne's leadership coach for six years.
"I learned a lot from Maxy on leadership and I respected him because I could see bits of myself in the way he did things," Bromwich told AAP after his first Dolphins training session.
"When I looked at Billy (Slater), Cam and Cooper (Cronk) ... they were almost too perfect. It was hard for me to be like them.
"When I became co-captain Maxy made me realise I didn't need to be like them, and that brought me out of my shell as a leader.
"They were really smart and knew everything about the game. I was a bit more physical and wasn't outspoken like they were.
"I wasn't a member of the spine like they were. I was a front-rower and didn't play 80 minutes like they did.
"I was different in so many ways and Maxy let me know that was OK."
Bromwich did a time trial at Redcliffe with a new Dolphins contingent that played at last year's World Cup including younger brother Kenny Bromwich, Anthony Milford and Felise Kaufusi.
He told the media in his first press conference that captaining the Dolphins was on his agenda.
"It is something I want to work towards," he said.
"It would be a real honour to do that for this club and to be a part of history. The first goal for myself is to earn everybody's respect.
"I was really lucky to be at a good club with really good leaders I respected. I just copied whatever they did for a long time, and when they left I knew it was my time to step up and do a bit of what they used to."
