Isaah Yeo has rated captaining Australia as the highlight of a rugby league career that has included a historic four consecutive NRL premiership wins with Penrith.
It comes as the lock rebuffs suggestions the calendar is too congested to properly accommodate international rugby league, insisting any prospective Kangaroo would make his country a priority.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga appointed Panthers warhorse Yeo to the captaincy after dropping ex-skipper James Tedesco among a slew of changes for the ongoing Pacific Championships.
Yeo led Australia to an 18-0 victory over Tonga in his first outing as captain and is now tasked with helping the Kangaroos atone for their 30-0 loss to New Zealand in last year's Pacific Cup final.
Ahead of Sunday's match in Christchurch, Yeo took a moment to reflect on the captaincy in the context of a career that has yielded four grand final wins and two State of Origin series triumphs with NSW.
"It'd be just about the greatest moment of my career," he said of leading Australia for the first time.
"Sometimes as players it gets lost how much it means to everyone else around us. Certainly for myself, it's the proudest moment of my career.
"My family and friends and community back home are extremely proud."
Meninga this week became the latest figure to call for the NRL season to be reduced in length to give international rugby league a chance to shine, and ensure players are fit to take part.
Australia and New Zealand will both field understrength sides on Sunday as stars including Nathan Cleary, Jahrome Hughes, Liam Martin and Dylan Brown nurse injuries from a taxing NRL campaign.
As it stands, players could come into a post-season international window having featured in more than 30 games for the calendar year if they were selected for State of Origin, finals and the pre-season World Club Challenge.
Cutting the length of the NRL season to 20 rounds once the competition reaches 20 teams, as is planned by sometime next decade, is a possible workaround.
But Yeo felt players would always want to line up to represent Australia even if it meant squeezing games into a long season.
"I'm wearing an Australian jersey, I'm representing my country. I'd do that if I played one game through a season or if I played 30. I think that's the case for everyone," he said.
"It's a real honour to put this jersey on. There's certainly no fatigue at all."
Yeo was in favour of finding more chances to schedule Test matches for the Kangaroos, who have played only eight games outside of World Cups in the past six years.
"I'd love to have this jersey on as much as I can. I think that'd be the case if you asked all the boys," he said.
"If there's any way that we can get that or get more involved in the international space I think that's a good thing."
