YORK City Knights have unveiled their new captain for 2017 - the reigning Press Player of the Year.

Head coach James Ford says homegrown back-rower Ed Smith "epitomises everything the Knights want to be about" and was an obvious choice as skipper, if not an easy pick among a "number of outstanding candidates".

The 24-year-old, the longest-serving player currently on the books, follows in the footsteps of his big brother in taking the armband, Pat Smith having been club captain in 2015.

Said Ford: "The blokes follow Ed and he's got a lot of respect.

"He's highly regarded across not only this squad but the league as a whole, and he epitomises everything we want to be about on and off the field.

"He puts everything into every aspect of his performance, including unselfish efforts off the ball. He's rough and tough but he also has an air of composure."

Asked if Smith was an obvious or easy choice as skipper of what is a much-changed squad, Ford said: "It was an obvious decision but not an easy one.

"There are a number of outstanding candidates and leaders in the group, which is promising."

Smith, who came through the Knights' old scholarship and academy set-up, became the club's then youngest-ever player when he made his debut in June 2010 against Gateshead Thunder, aged 17 years and seven months.

He now has more first-team appearances than anyone else in York's current squad, with 123, and has twice been named The Press Player of the Year, jointly with Castleford-bound Greg Minikin in 2015 before winning it outright last year.

A former junior at York Acorn, he has taken the armband for the club once before, when the Knights met his old amateur club in the Challenge Cup third round in front of a bumper crowd on their Bootham Crescent bow last February.

Now he takes that job on a permanent basis, following the departures of 2016 skipper Jack Aldous to Newcastle Thunder and vice-captain Mike Emmett to Keighley Cougars.

"It's been pleasing to watch him grow as a leader and as a player," added Ford of Smith, who also captained England Colleges in his teens.

"I personally have enormous respect for Ed and there's lots of trust there, and that's significant if he's giving his and the players' insight and thoughts on things and the direction they think we need to go in.

"He's been around good captains, like Jack Aldous and Mike Emmett, and if he takes their best attributes and adds the ones he's got naturally, I think he will emerge as an outstanding leader."

Ford added that the Smith brothers, team-mates again for a fourth season, should be especially proud that they have both now been named as captain of their hometown team.

"The two of them are intelligent young men who have been brought up well and know their rugby league well," he said.

"Pat has been club captain and there will be responsibility for him still. They and their family should be really proud."

Smith junior becomes the sixth York-born star to permanently captain their hometown club since it was re-born in 2002, following on from Rich Hayes, Dan Potter, Scott Rhodes, Lee Paterson and Pat Smith.