Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has delivered a pre-season surprise by naming Peter Wallace as a co-captain for the 2014 season.
The announcement was made this morning just a day before Cleary names his team to take on Newcastle in Saturday’s season-opener at Sportingbet Stadium.
Wallace, a St Marys junior, will share the captaincy duties with Kevin Kingston, who was the club’s captain last year.
“Kev and Pete are natural leaders and they have the combined respect of all the boys in the squad,” Cleary said.
“They will be exceptional mentors for our younger players, and they agree with the direction we want to take the team into the future.”
Cleary’s move makes sense given Kingston is no longer an 80 minute player, spending time on the bench during matches to allow game time for James Segeyaro. While both are often on the field at the same time, Wallace is likely to play 80 minutes every week, and has clearly impressed during the pre-season.
Kingston is off contract at the end of the 2014 season.
