The Goulburn product will be 24 years, five months and 25 days old when he leads the club he supported as a child against Cronulla in round one, eclipsing Simon Woolford (25 years, 10 months, 11 days).

Croker got a taste for the role when he stepped up as skipper for the last three games of this year, after his predecessor, Terry Campese, was dropped to NSW Cup.

The Raiders won all three of those matches to make it a total of eight wins for the season, all in all a disappointing result.

His success convinced Croker that age is just a number, but he plans to rule via democracy as he finds his feet.

"I chatted with Ricky a couple of days ago, it was a pretty lengthy discussion and we spoke about where we wanted to take the club," Croker said.

"I started shaking and was a bit rattled at the time, but I was keen to do it.

"The back end of last [season] when we started losing a lot of senior players, it really helped me a lot.

"I was captain the last three games; that gave me the feeling I could probably do it.

"I found those last three games I wanted to play better and lead from the front.

"But this job isn't about me going out there by myself, I'm going to have a leadership group and senior guys outside it I'll be taking advice off."

In a lean year for the Raiders in 2014, Croker enjoyed a breakout season. He won the Mal Meninga Medal as Canberra's best player and was also selected in the Prime Minister's XIII squad to play Papua New Guinea. He was also invited to train with the NSW Blues in preparation for State of Origin.

Despite undoubted interest from other clubs, Croker re-signed with the Raiders until the end of 2018, a show of commitment which helped his ascension to the captaincy.

"I've always wanted to be here but the way Rick came in, stamped his authority and told us what he wanted, that just confirmed my decision," Croker said.

"I've been here for six years in first grade and my plan is to be here for six or more years.

"To lead this great club out is one of the proudest moments of my life."

Croker plans to sit down with past Raiders skippers, including Stuart, Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga, for advice and guidance.

He expects club ambassador fellow goal-kicking centre Meninga to be particularly helpful.

Stuart is keen to ensure the added responsibility on and off field does not affect Croker's consistency and his responsibilities as a goal-kicker.

"One thing I don't want to do is let this take away from Jarrod's quality as a player, and notably his goalkicking," Stuart said.

"Something I plan on doing is getting him and Mal together to discuss that situation.

"He's still only very young and will have experienced players around him to get through the early stages as captain.

"This is a decision for stability."

Stuart said he considered having co-captains, as when Campese was appointed alongside Alan Tongue in 2012 to help him find his feet.

"It's horses for courses with those decisions, and I felt it wasn't the right decision for this club to have a co-captain," Stuart said.

"Our leadership group will be announced after Christmas; there's a number of senior players in and out of that leadership group who will play an important role."

Stuart feels that playing on the edge is an ideal place for a captain, and Croker hopes this will help him make the right decisions under pressure.

"Someone like 'Fenno' [lock Shaun Fensom] – making 50 or 60 tackles a game, he's probably too gassed to talk to the ref," Croker said.

"I captained all through the juniors [with Goulburn Stockmen], but that was because Dad was the coach.

"My mum got a bit emotional when I told her. She got even more upset when I told her she couldn't tell anyone for two days."

RAIDERS CAPTAINS

* Croker will be 24 years, five months and 25 days old when he captains Canberra as official skipper in round one next year

Simon Woolford: 25 years, 10 months, 11 days

David Grant: 26 years, one month, two days

Alan Tongue: 26 years, five months, four days

Dean Lance: 26 years, 11 months, four days

Terry Campese: 27 years, six months, 28 days

Ricky Stuart: 28 years, two months, 12 days

Laurie Daley: 28 years, four months, 23 days

Allan McMahon: 28 years, six months, 17 days

Mal Meninga: 28 years, eight months, 11 days

Clinton Schifcofske: 30 years, four months, one day