Rick Stone has a leadership group together from which his 2017 Huddersfield Giants captain will be selected.

Australian Ryan Hinchcliffe led the side last season and is among the list again vying to lead out the line for the Super League opener against Widness on Friday, February 10.

Stone confirmed that new signing from Bradford, Adam O’Brien, would play hooker and skipper the side in Saturday’s friendly against Workington at the John Smith’s Stadium (3.00).

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And on the subject of captaincy, Stone explained: “We do have a leadership group and we are working towards picking our captain for season 2017.

“We will have that sorted before the start of the year, of course, but it’s taken a bit longer and I’ve waited until January so that everyone has had a bit of time to train with each other, with a few senior boys getting back in there.”

He added: “We do have a good cross section at the moment and we are trying to educate some of our young men to be leaders.

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“We have cast our net a little bit wider and we’ve got a cross section of probably 10 players, from some of our young players to some of our senior players.

“Every week we have a meeting and talk about leadership and talk to them about how the programme is going, what their expectations are and how we can fine tune our programme to make it better.

“The more ownership you can give to the team, hopefully the better results you are going to get.”

Asked specifically about Hinchcliffe being captain, Stone explained: “He was captain last year and I think he’s happy to be considered again, but it’s not the be all and end all for Ryan.

“His work ethic and attitude won’t change whether he has got a ‘C’ next to his name or not.

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“We have a good group of maybe four to six real hard core senior players who are going to drive our culture over the next couple of years.

“Ryan is still definitely in that, but we’ve got Danny Brough, Michael Lawrence, Jermaine McGillvary, Leroy Cudjoe – real blokes who care about the place and want to make a difference – and Ukuma Ta’ai is one who has been in the mix there as well.

“So we have some real good boys who, first of all, want to do well and set some good standards for the rest of the group and, also, care about the place, and that’s important.”

Stone will again field some of the club’s exciting youngsters against Workington and hasn’t ruled out giving a few minutes to Australian signing Shannon Wakeman – providing his flight arrives on time!

Free-agent prop Wakeman, who is 16st 7lb, is on his way to start a two-year contract and could get out on the pitch if all goes to plan.

One player sitting it out, however, and unfortunately that could be the case for a few weeks, is full-back Jared Simpson, who has a medial knee ligament strain suffered in the 28-10 win against Bradford.

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Stone, who reckons the next couple of years are vital to getting the Giants back on track after last season’s bottom place and Middle 8s scenario, is keen to look at the younger players once more against Workington.

“Some of them will get a real good opportunity to present themselves and put their hand up for a first 17 jumper,” he said.

“A few will go on to face Warrington next Wednesday and a few will challenge for a spot in week one, so this is another game for me to get a good look at them, which is important.

“We’ve managed our friendlies around preparing for week one and the likes of Adam O’Brien, Daniel Smith, Oli Roberts and Nathan Mason have aspirations to force their way into the first team.

“Sam Wood, our young centre, is another and Darnell McIntosh, our young full back who had a pretty good start to the season against Bradford, is keen to put his hand up.

“But they are all keen to show they have plenty to offer.”

Dale Ferguson and Tom Symonds won’t play until the Warrington match.