'Emotional' Tamou ready to lead new club

New Wests Tigers captain James Tamou has described his appointment in his first year at the club as "quite an emotional thing for me".

The announcement, made following the club's pre-season camp in Tamworth will see Tamou will take on the leadership role after Moses Mbye relinquished the captaincy last month.

Despite only joining the club in December, Tamou arrived at Concord a favourite for the job having guided a young Panthers outfit through a 17-game winning streak that ended in last year's Telstra Premiership grand final.

The 2015 premiership-winner will form part of a five-man leadership group that also includes Luke Brooks, Adam Doueihi, David Nofoaluma and Alex Twal.

"With the rich history that this club has, it's an absolute honour to be named captain of Wests Tigers," Tamou said in a statement on the club website.

"It was quite an emotional thing for me. I can see how passionate the boys here are for the Wests Tigers jersey and it’s a real privilege to lead them forward this year."

Tamou, 32, is on track to reach the 300-game milestone after signing a two-year deal with the joint venture last year.

After making his NRL debut in 2009, the former Australian international played 170 games for the Cowboys before shifting south for a four-year stint at the Panthers.

He took over the captaincy at the Panthers in 2019 but was among an experienced quartet let go by Ivan Cleary last year due to the emergence of several young stars at the club.

Maguire said Tamou's arrival has had an immediate effect.

"James' influence on our club has been excellent from the moment he's been here," Maguire said.

"He has extremely strong support behind him from the playing group and the team has really resonated with him as the leader of our side."

Tamou is expected to play his first game in Wests Tigers colours in a pre-season trial game at Leichhardt Oval on February 28.