Seibold puts faith in tyro skippers Carrigan and Croft

Anthony Seibold has detailed why he has put faith in new Broncos co-captains Patrick Carrigan and Brodie Croft to lead the side on a "spoil the party" mission in Townsville on Friday night.

With newly appointed skipper Alex Glenn out of action with a hamstring injury Seibold has put faith in a duo who are both just 22 for the clash with the Cowboys at the opening of their new stadium.

Carrigan has played 19 first-grade games but has started in just two.  

Croft will become the first Bronco to have the "c" next to his name in his first premiership game for the club since Immortal Wally Lewis led out Brisbane in 1988 against Manly in the club’s inaugural game.

Lewis was one of the game’s greatest leaders at the time and had led Queensland and Wynnum-Manly to glory in the preceding years.

"What I want to do is grow leadership within the group and build it over a period of time. Yes it's unusual for Brodie to be a co-captain in his first game," Seibold said when quizzed on his decision.

"We need him to lead us around the park and if he doesn't do that, you guys will be on top of him.

"So give him a voice, put the ‘c’ beside his name and he steers us around the park, so it's a good opportunity for him.

"He's done it at junior level before so it's a good way for him to find his voice. The captaincy can be over-rated in some areas but we think it's the right choice."

Croft will be need to make any captain’s challenge and scrum position decisions when Carrigan takes a break from his middle forward duties.

The lock forward did skipper the Broncos well against the Titans in a trial and has the full backing of the coach.

"Patty has a long history at under age level, even in school he was a captain so he has showed leadership skills for a long period of time," Seibold said.

"He did a good job captaining in the trials. With the rules you have to nominate two players who can make those decisions so with Patty to have 20 minutes off the field, I will go with the dual captaincy model for this game.

"We have a pretty young team, we aren't unlike a junior team in that regard. We have plenty of kids who are 19 or 20 years of age.

"I'm not too sure what other people think but it doesn't really matter does it? Internally we make the decision because we feel it's the best decision for this game with a couple of our leaders in [Matt] Lodge and Alex out.”

With Jack Bird out of the Cowboys clash after confirmation of an ACL tear suffered at training, the Broncos will be underdogs on a mission in Townsville.

"Certainly we want to spoil the party and there is going to be a party up there on Friday night. It is a fantastic new facility from what we understand," Seibold said.

"We know that one of the  players told our players that the Cowboys slept on the field, I think last week, so obviously they are trying to make it a fortress and build a connection with the stadium.

"I think there will be a lot of pressure on the Cowboys. Everyone expects them to win at home at the opening of the stadium don’t they?

"In some ways we go up there with no fear.We want to spoil the party."