Leadership is in Cameron Murray's bloodstream, however it hasn't stopped the South Sydney skipper from expanding on his role in his second season with the 'c' next to his name.
Murray was named captain of the club last season for the first time, succeeding from local junior Adam Reynolds who departed for sunny Brisbane following the 2021 NRL Grand Final.
While some bookmarked the lock forward as the next club captain when he was a teenager, Murray admits his first season in the role was a learning curve.
“I learnt a lot last year about leadership,” Murray told Fox Sports.
“We went through some pretty tough lows and some pretty incredible highs as well.
“It was a bit of a rollercoaster season and I went through some tough moments there personally as well, so I feel like you always learn the most during your darkest times and I think that definitely was the case last year.
“I think I will be better for it this year in terms of my captaincy and leadership style.
“I have always told myself I want to lead with predominantly actions on and off the field as opposed to what I say.
“I want to be that person who inspires people through what they do through my actions, so that is something that I want to keep as my base in terms of my base leadership qualities and that is something that I am continuing to work hard on.”
The 25 year-old certainly isn't extroverted by nature, and has set his focus on developing relationships with his team mates.
“I learnt last year that relationships is a big one in terms of your teammates,” Murray said.
“That's not to say I didn't have good relationships with my teammates last year. I did and I always have.
“It is something that I pride myself on is trying to be the best bloke that I can and being kind and inspirational through that sort of avenue.
“But I think being more of an introverted kind of guy and shy person by mature, certain things in terms of relationship building and getting out of my comfort zone don't come to me as naturally and I don't feel as comfortable doing certain things.
“I'm definitely trying to push myself out of my comfort zone in terms of building relationships on and off the field as well. There is plenty of lessons I have learnt from last year.”
It's doubtful Murray will take the field in South Sydney's first trial game against Manly, however expect the World Cup winner to lead from the get-go in next week's annual Charity Shield bout against St George Illawarra.
