Jayden Brailey believes he's a better player thanks to the added responsibility of captaining the Knights

Knights coach Adam O'Brien is yet to decide on his captaincy model for 2023 after opting for a leadership group this year.

Brailey and NSW Blues prop Daniel Saifiti shared the role during the first half of the season with fullback Kalyn Ponga stepping up alongside the Knights hooker later in the year.

For his part, Brailey was largely in charge on the field dealing directly with the referees and says he found his voice among the playing group the longer the season went on.

"I don't know what way it's going to go next year but I really enjoyed working with KP [Ponga] and DSaif as co-captains," Brailey said. "We bounced things off each other really well - we are all different characters and it seemed to work so we'll see what happens. I'd love to get the opportunity again.

"Me personally, I thought I really grew into the role last season.

"I was probably a quiet voice in previous years and had a tendency to just sort of look after myself but this year gave me that responsibility of worrying about the blokes around me and that made me grow my voice in the team.

"It felt like it reflected well on the field with my football as well. We'll see what Adz [coach Adam O'Brien] decides but I'd absolutely love to do it again."

Brailey finished last season as the competition's leading defender, making more tackles than any other player in the competition. But it's fair to say there were times when his enormous defensive workload blunted his sharpness out of dummy half.

His combinations in attack, particularly with Ponga now that halfback Mitchell Pearce is no longer at the club, have been a real focal point for him so far during pre-season training.

"The pre-season has been really tough but really enjoyable," he said. "Having just about everyone on deck and fit has made an enormous difference compared to the past few seasons and personally, I know there is a lot of scope for improvement.

"I really want to work hard on my combination with KP. He's the best player in our side and one of the best in the comp so the more we get him in the game, the better we'll be as a team. If I can get our middles rolling as well, it's going to make that a whole lot easier too. So all those attack combinations around the ruck and getting KP as involved as possible - that's the real big focus for me heading into a new season."

# Wests Tigers players and staff have been forced to undergo a COVID test after a club trainer tested positive to the virus.

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