Petero Civoniceva has been named as the Penrith Panthers captain for 2008 in his first season with the club.
The hulking prop was given the honour today, and will lead the Panthers immediately after joining the club from Brisbane.
Penrith took the wooden spoon in the NRL last season, and Civoneciva – who has won premierships with the Broncos and represented Queensland and Australia – was deemed the perfect leader for this season.
Civoniceva told LIVENEWS.com.au’s Mark Levy that getting the captaincy was a great privilege and he was looking forward to the year to come.
“I got a brief taste of captaincy last year at the Broncos, when Darren Lockyer got injured,” Civoniceva said.
“That step up in responsibility and leadership, I really enjoyed that, and I felt it took my game to another level. Hopefully that can be the case this year.”
The hard-hitting prop also made a prediction - the Panthers would climb off the bottom of the ladder this season.
“Just the way the guys have applied themselves in the pre-season has been fantastic.”
“We’re just looking forward to playing to our potential. Looking at our playing ranks we’ve got some fantastic experience mixed with some exciting new stars in the game.
“If we can get that right and play to our potential I’m sure we can have a successful year.”
