Interviews: 2018 co-captain
Newly announced nib Newcastle Knights co-captain Mitchell Pearce admits it feels surreal to be rewarded with the new role.
The Knights halfback maintained that to be named co-captain with Jamie Buhrer, despite not having played a game for the Club, is very humbling.
“The last four months have been surreal,” Pearce said.
“It always felt right to be part of the Knights and since I have been here, I’ve been blown away by the support from the town and how good a Club it is, from the staff to the players.
“To get named co-captain and not having been here for too long, that respect means a lot to me.”
Buhrer, who co-captained the Knights midway through 2017 with Sione Mata’utia, agreed it is an honour to be given the role of such a proud Club.
“It’s certainly a role I enjoyed last year,” Buhrer explained.
“Mitchell has got such a great presence and will be a great addition and I’m really excited.
“It’s been a long pre-season and one that I would term successful with a lot of good work in.”
The Knights forward credits the depth of leadership the Club has heading into the 2018 season.
“A couple of big name players and signings in Chris Heighington and Jacob Lillyman, who are very vocal leaders and we are fortunate to have those two,” he said.
“We’ve got different personalities and approaches to leadership which I think are important in this day and age, and it’s important we are pushing this thing together on the field, so in terms of leadership we’re in a good spot.”
Pearce said it’s great to be building something special here at the Knights.
“We’re building something really good and it all comes down to results,” Pearce added.
“It’s going to be a big couple of years and we’ve had a good base level pre-season.
“Big reason I came here was for leadership and I want to invest in that as much as I can and help out with the standards.”
