Jarome Luai has vowed to borrow a page from Stephen Crichton's playbook as he attempts to lead Wests Tigers to glory after three consecutive wooden spoons.
The joint-venture club entered the NRL in 2000 but only a few club debuts have attracted as much attention as that of Luai, who crossed to the Tigers after winning four consecutive premierships at Penrith.
The level of expectation on the superstar grew in January when coach Benji Marshall promoted him to co-captain alongside Api Koroisau.
Having talked so much about making a leap of faith to a club mired in misery that hasn't played a final since 2011, Luai will finally run out for the Tigers in Friday night's clash with Newcastle at Campbelltown Stadium.
The playmaker pointed to Crichton, a former teammate at the Panthers who is now captaining Canterbury, while discussing what his approach to captaincy will be like.
"If I can take a leaf out of his book, it's that you have to be yourself, be energetic," Luai said as he prepared to lead the Tigers in the absence of suspended co-skipper Koroisau.
"So that's what I want to bring.
"(I) need to be my own leader."
Luai had a taste of captaincy while leading Samoa last year.
"Being captain, you have to be pretty good at assessing the situation on the run," he said, adding that had always been his mindset on the field.
"I just want to be a player that other players want to play with.
"As long as I strap my boots on, put my headgear on, there's always room to improve."
Luai's innate connection with Nathan Cleary, built on a partnership that dated back to their days in the under-16s Harold Matthews competition for Penrith, was a large part of the Panthers' premiership-laden run.
Luai and Cleary won a remarkable 107 of 134 matches they started together at all levels.
The 28-year-old is confident he can click with new halves partner, 19-year-old Lachie Galvin, but conceded it will take time.
"It's not going to happen in an instant. But, we're going to get the (games) in the bank and give it a real good crack this week," he said.
"It's the beginning of a new journey for not only me, but us two as a combination.
"There's a lot of young boys on this team. They're excited to play. I think if we can sprinkle a bit of experience on that, it's going to help us win a lot more games this year."
Luai will be one of seven players making their club debut for Wests.
