Sometimes captaincy can be a burden, but not for Canberra Raiders enforcer Joe Tapine.
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Raiders coach Ricky Stuart says Tapine's game has gone to another level since he stepped in as acting captain in Elliott Whitehead's (calf) absence.
That can be embodied in one number - the 302 metres he ran in the Green Machine's golden-point thriller against the Gold Coast on Sunday.
Tapine was already one of the best props in the NRL, Stuart rating him in the top two or three.
And yet he's seemingly gone to another level again in the 2024 NRL campaign.
The 29-year-old's averaging 176m per game this season - the most of his career, with his 2022 return of 165m his next best.
Tapine's been Canberra's acting captain in all-but-one of the Raiders' games this year, with his average climbing to 184m if you take out the Warriors game when Whitehead was the skipper.
He put in a massive shift in the 21-20 victory over the Titans that went to the final minute of extra time.
Tapine played 67 minutes with more than a third of his run metres coming post contact (137m), making two tackle busts and offloads, and 32 tackles.
Stuart said there'd been a noticeable difference in Tapine as a leader.
"Yeah he has [grown]," he said.
"This time last year I probably would think that he wouldn't have the same ability, but he's worked really hard on his maturity around the players.
"He's worked towards our culture and standards here - he's a big driver of that - and the leaders need to be that and Joe's one of them.
"I think he enjoys being that leader and captain, and as much as Joe enjoys it I think the players enjoy having him there as their leader too.
"Whilst Elliott's out at the moment he's doing a really good job for us as captain."
Tapine's fourth in the NRL for post-contact metres (436m) - narrowly behind Brisbane lock Patrick Carrigan (442m), who he'll come up against at Lang Park on Saturday night - and he's also in the top 10 for run metres (1061m).
Stuart said his effort against the Titans put him in rare air for props in the NRL - as one of the top two or three big boppers in the game.
His New Zealand teammate James Fisher-Harris would be up there with him, while injured Bronco Payne Haas and Addin Fonua-Blake would also be in the conversation.
"You don't see many front-rowers run over 300m and I'm sure he'll be a real focus and a target for the Broncos - and so he should be," Stuart said.
"He's probably in the top two or three front-rowers in the game and he deserves to be where he is because of the focus and work he puts into his game.
"I couldn't be more pleased for Joe the way he's playing."
While Tapine's enjoying a boom season, Raiders recruit Zac Hosking's facing a big two weeks to determine what role he'll play for the remainder of 2024.
The Canberra Times revealed Hosking would spend the next two weeks in intensive rehabilitation in an attempt to avoid surgery.
Stuart said if that goes well then Hosking would be back in about 10-12 weeks, meaning a potential return against the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown in round 16.
But if at the end of the fortnight he hasn't progressed as hoped then Hosking would face season-ending surgery.
Hosking's been a revelation since coming to Canberra, slotting in perfectly into the second row on the Raiders right edge in the absence of Whitehead.
Raiders prop Ata Mariota's again been named to cover for Hosking - as he did in the past two games - while second-rower Simi Sasagi has been named on the bench as well.
"Over the next two weeks he'll go through a very intensive rehabilitation period and then we'll make a decision in regards to whether we have to keep rehabbing him and having the opportunity to play after about 10-12 weeks," Stuart said.
"But in that period if it doesn't get to a stage that the specialist is comfortable with he'll have to go in for an operation and that'll be the season [over] unfortunately."
NRL ROUND SEVEN
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos at Lang Park, 7.35pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Chevy Stewart, 2. James Schiller, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali'i, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joe Tapine (c), 11. Hudson Young, 12. Ata Mariota, 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Simi Sasagi, 16. Trey Mooney, 17. Pasami Saulo. Reserves: 18. Kaeo Weekes, 19. Emre Guler, 20. Zac Woolford, 21. Nick Cotric, 22. Peter Hola.
Broncos squad: 1. Reece Walsh, 2. Corey Oates, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Selwyn Cobbo, 5. Jesse Arthars, 6. Ezra Mam, 7. Jock Madden, 8. Corey Jensen, 9. Billy Walters, 10. Fletcher Baker, 11. Jaiyden Hunt, 12. Jordan Riki, 13. Patrick Carrigan. Interchange: 14. Tyson Smoothy, 15. Xavier Willison, 16. Kobe Hetherington, 17. Tristan Sailor. Reserves: 18. Martin Taupau, 19. Benjamin Te Kura, 20. Jordan Pereira, 21. Blake Mozer, 22. Josiah Karapani.