Brent Tate can see the irony. Over the early part of the National Rugby League (NRL) season, he had wanted to keep a low profile and concentrate on his return for the New Zealand Warriors after losing most of last year to a serious knee injury.
This week, the centre finds himself in the spotlight after coach Ivan Cleary named him to lead the side out against the Bulldogs in Auckland on Saturday night, and he couldn't be more delighted.
"I was pretty chuffed when Ivan asked me and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face," he said. "It's a huge honour and a really humbling experience to run the boys out first."
Tate, 28, will the Warriors' third captain in just five rounds this year.
Newly-appointed club skipper Simon Mannering's troublesome hamstring has restricted him to less than half a match, while previous deputy Micheal Luck is out with a hand injury suffered in the loss to Manly last weekend.
Tate, who has 145 NRL games to his name, said his last experience of being captain was "probably in the under-12s" and he didn't expect to do anything too different from normal.
"The way you see me every week won't change," he said. "I might have to talk to the ref once or twice during the game, but that will be it."
Both teams are coming off losses, the Bulldogs going down 16-38 to South Sydney a week after putting 60 points on the previously unbeaten Sydney Roosters.
The Warriors are also following a big win, over Brisbane, with a defeat, losing to Manly last Sunday.
While four points from four games was a reasonable return, Tate agreed it could have been better, saying the 6-14 result against the Sea Eagles was disappointing.
Still, while the Warriors lacked a bit of energy and enthusiasm, they kept themselves in the hunt until Kiwis centre Steve Matai's benefit-of-the-doubt try late on helped Manly out to an eight-point margin.
"I guess if you're looking for positives, there's one right there -- we weren't at the top of our game, but we were still very much in a position to win it." Tate said.
"The try was pretty controversial and if a couple of things went our way, we get the two points. We're a really young team and we have some young guys in key positions that will learn from that."
Tate's appointment coincided with brother-in-law Steve Price's announcement that he would end his first-grade career at the end of the season.
Price, 36, a veteran of 313 NRL games, is still waiting to make his first appearance for the Warriors this year after his rehabilitation from off-season heel surgery hit a setback.
Tate had known of Price's decision beforehand, but still felt a touch of sadness when it was announced on Tuesday.
"All good things much come to an end," he said.
"He's had 17 years of first grade, which is near unheard of. I'm relieved he's done it, because I know it's been weighing on him a little bit and he can concentrate on playing for us and looking forward to his future."
Tate, who joined the Warriors from Brisbane at the start of the 2008 season, comes off contract at the end of the year and he said no decisions had been made about his own future.
The Australian and Queensland representative's priority until now had been to get back to playing football after his knee injury.
He enjoyed living in New Zealand, but there were issues to be worked through before he knew where he would be next year.
"Now that I'm back playing and I'm feeling a little more comfortable, it's getting to the time where we need to start sorting it out."
