Sam Burgess has been named England's Four Nations captain – but according to at least one teammate it was a mere formality.
With incumbent Sean O'Loughlin unavailable through injury, new coach Wayne Bennett named South Sydney's Burgess over Canterbury's James Graham during a media conference in Central London for the tournament also involving Australia, New Zealand and Scotland which kicks off on October 28.
![Kissed and made up: James Graham tackles Sam Burgess.](/web/20161020184418im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/7/w/u/s/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs4iqt.png/1476741143290.jpg)
But according to Hull's Scott Taylor, set to make his Test debut this Saturday night against France, "It was known, to be honest.
"He has that presence, he has that talk, he's obviously one of the best players in the world and he's been a leader since that first minute of walking through the door.
"If anyone asked me who was captain, it was pretty obvious straight away it was Sam. He deserves it.
"He's an unbelievable player. It's the first time I've had a chance to meet him and train with him and he's everything I thought he'd be.
"If I got the chance to take the field for one minute, there is no guy I'd rather play under than him."
Explaining the appointment, Bennett said: "Quality number one is he leads from the front. After that, he can make it up as he goes."
Burgess' celebrity from a short stint in rugby union has been heavily used to promote the Four Nations, with the slogan "He's Back!" used on the big screen at the Super League grand final.
But the 28-year-old – who described the captaincy as a "childhood dream" – said he hoped to "move on" from questions about his controversial tenure in the 15-man game.
"I don't have any scars, any regrets," said Burgess.
"Nothing really affected me in the whole process. People were asking me a lot of questions, digging for things that weren't there.
"That whole union thing, we've got to move on at some stage from the transition and coming back.
"I took a lot of character out of it. Going into a game I didn't know, to knuckle down and get into an England squad took a lot dedication a lot of commitment, a lot of focus.
"I learned a lot more about what it took to be successful – be disciplined. To achieve certain goals I learned a lot about personal character, about team environments.
"It was, overall, a great experience."
Graham and Burgess clashed late in the NRL regular season, the latter saying: "We met up to train together and the first thing we did was have a bit of a kiss and a cuddle.
"He's a great man, James."