Isaah Yeo stepped up and took on the captaincy role last season but he insists the leadership position is something he's still growing into.
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Yeo and his Penrith Panthers started up pre-season last week with Yeo again joined by fellow Dubbo product Kaide Ellis as the preparations for season 2019 began.
There is a new feeling around the club with Ivan Cleary returning to take on the head coach's role having replaced Anthony Griffin during the off-season.
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Yeo insists it's been a positive vibe around during the early stages, which has mainly featured he and the club's younger players.
I am one of the oldest at the moment and my hairline probably says that," he laughed while speaking to the Panthers official website, before speaking about leading the up-and-comers around.
"I'm trying to. There's a really good bunch of people coming through and I haven't had to do say an awful lot.
"But it's obviously somehting I'm trying to work on for the last few years and I'm trying to grow into that role."
Yeo captained the side for the first time in round 17 of the 2018 season and led the side out on a handful of other occassions when both Peter Wallace and James Maloney were injured.
With Wallace having now retired and joined Penrith's coaching staff, as well as the departures of experienced players Trent Merrin and Tyrone Peachey, Yeo will be even more of an important leadership figure for Cleary.
The coach and versatile back-rower know each other as well. Yeo having been part of the club during Cleary's previous time as coach between 2012 and 2015.
"I was fortunate enough to have him when I was last here and not much has changed with him. He's pretty cool, calm, and collected," Yeo said of Cleary.
"But it's been really good for us and it's only early days but 'Ciro' (Cameron Ciraldo) and 'Wall' (Wallace) have picked up where they left of as well.
"There's areally good feeling around the club at the moment."
While there is a good feeling, Yeo confessed it has been a hard slog in the early weeks of pre-season.
Fitness, as always, has been a focus and will continue to be until the Christmas breaks, with pre-season trials to follow on shortly after that in the new year.
"It's been tough and there's been a lot of testing at the moment," he said.
"There was a week of testing with all us younger boys and now we've had a few older boys back in and we're repeating it. We knew what was coming so that's probably not a good thing because we know how tough it was last week.
“Everyone is excited and putting their best foot forward leading into the few weeks before Christmas.”