St George Illawarra prop Blake Lawrie denies the Dragons are short on leaders after the club received criticism for appointing Jack de Belin as their temporary captain.
With Ben Hunt on Queensland State of Origin duty, Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr needed to look elsewhere for a captain for last week's match against the Dolphins.
He settled on in-form prop de Belin, who was stood down from the NRL for two-and-a-half years after being charged over an alleged rape in December 2018.
The case against him was withdrawn in 2021 after two trials that ended in hung juries, save for the second finding de Belin not guilty on one charge.
The decision to appoint de Belin prompted concerns as to the state of the Dragons' leadership, but the club insisted his on-field performances made him the best option.
"'Bomber's form over the last month meant that he deserved to be the captain. He's been outstanding," Lawrie told AAP.
Questions about the depth of the Dragons' leadership will become more pressing when 32-year-old de Belin and 33-year-old Hunt retire in the coming years.
Lawrie said he would be keen on leadership roles at that time, but insisted there were plenty of other candidates as well.
Potential leaders Lawrie, Jack Bird and Jaydn Su'A missed the Dolphins game through injury so could not be considered for the temporary captaincy.
"If the new staff sat down and wanted myself or other candidates to be the captain, you've got to support it," Lawrie said.
"I like Su'A, he's got a fair few leadership qualities, we've obviously got a leadership group here. We've got (Zac) Lomax, Birdy, the list goes on."
Looking further into the future, Lawrie suggested twin rising stars Toby and Ryan Couchman had captaincy potential, as did Illawarra Steelers SG Ball skipper Dylan Egan.
"There are a lot of young boys coming through that train hard and they have the right standards," he said.
"Leadership is just a title, it doesn't mean anything if you don't live up to it and don't go out there and the boys don't follow you."
Lawrie will miss Sunday's clash against reigning premiers Penrith with the broken hand that ruled him last week.
The prop forward suffered the injury in the opening minutes of the thrilling round-12 victory over the Sydney Roosters but played through the pain. He is hopeful of returning in the coming weeks.
"It's very frustrating that I can't be in and around the group," he said.
"When the boys are against Penrith, this is a game you want to be playing, against their forward pack, against the reigning premiers.
"When the draw first comes out, you circle that.
"It's disappointing to miss this week."