Anthony Minichiello thrilled to be named Sydney Roosters captain

THE longer Anthony Minichiello survives, the better his comeback story gets.

THE longer Anthony Minichiello survives, the better his comeback story gets.

Five years ago his playing future was clouded thanks to chronic back problems. For the previous three seasons he's been on the contractual equivalent of death row at the Roosters, fielding annual questions about retirement or moving elsewhere because of a succession of one-year deals.

And with a host of promising fullbacks rising through the ranks, the former Origin and Test star faced the undesirable prospect of finishing his stellar career on the wing.

But through all those upheavals, the 32-year-old toasted his finest hour at Allianz Stadium yesterday when he was appointed club captain.

"It's probably the most meaningful highlight of my career to date,'' Minichiello told his team mates, who broke from training for the public announcement. "This is a very special moment.''

From there the good news kept coming for Mini's army of fans.

He will start this season as fullback after training at the rear for a vast majority of the summer.

And the answer to that annual question hasn't changed: Minichiello already wants to continue beyond this year with the Roosters and possibly reach the magical 300-game milestone that even he thought impossible while incapacitated with devastating back pain in 2006-07.

"The goal for me is to captain the club now and next season as well,'' he said. "That's the long-term goal  I'll be playing for another contract because I love the club and want to stay here.

"It (playing on one-year contracts) doesn't really worry me like it does other players.

"Sometimes it can cloud their head and preparation. But I've always stayed positive and been confident in my ability.''

Although he's the lone Rooster over 30 years of age, Minichiello showed similar fortitude to convince new coach Trent Robinson to opt against a co-captaincy model.

His leadership and talk before Christmas has been so outstanding that even other captaincy candidates Mitchell Pearce, Jared Warea-Hargreaves, Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend  urged Robinson to appoint the veteran as stand-alone skipper.

The younger quartet have instead been appointed Minichiello's vice captains, indicating the field from which his successor will be drawn.

"I was considering (co-captains) and it was always clear that Mini was going to be one of them,'' Robinson said. "I wanted to leave that open because I wanted the opportunity to develop some leadership in our group.

"It's been clear every day at training that Mini has been leading the way and the other players I talked to all wanted him as captain.''

Robinson made-up his mind over the Christmas break, while visiting his young family in France, where they've temporarily remained following his departure from Catalans Dragons last September.

He waited until Monday to inform Minichiello, who was "nervous'' and "lost for words'' inside the coach's office.

"I always wanted to be captain, but when Robbo didn't announce it straight away that made me step things up,'' Minichiello said. "We've introduced some little disciplinary things because we want to harden up the culture here.

"The last two seasons we haven't made the finals and we're still hurting from that.

"Obviously there's going to be more pressure and responsibility, but I'm ready for that.''