Dubbo product Isaah Yeo is still considered a front-runner for the Penrith Panthers captaincy with coach Ivan Cleary yet to name his skipper for 2019.
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Dallin Watene-Zelezniak led New Zealand for the first time last summer but doesn't expect to be a chief contender for the Penrith captaincy, as Yeo and James Maloney are seen as the main contenders.
Maloney took on the captaincy intermittently in 2018 following the mid-season retirement of Peter Wallace.
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But Yeo's leadership qualities have long been recognised, the St Johns Dubbo junior and 2018 Merv Cartwright Medallist captaining the Panthers against the New Zealand Warriors in July last year.
Cleary, who gave Yeo his NRL debut in 2014, is well aware of the 24-year-olds credentials.
"Isaah definitely has leadership potential and he is one guy that has noticeably matured in my eyes since I've come back," Cleary told reporters late last year.
"He debuted as a fresh-faced 20-year-old and I always thought he had the potential to be a good leader. And he's really growing in that mould."