The 29-year-old will lead the Warriors for the last time in Nelson.

Departing Warriors captain Simon Mannering said the burden of leading the team was affecting his enjoyment of the game.

It was announced by the club on Wednesday that Ryan Hoffman would take over the captaincy after this weekend's trial game against the Dragons in Nelson.

It was a shock call given that at the age of 29 he is still in his prime as a player and one of their most consistent players.

Phil Walter Simon Mannering has been replaced as Warriors captain by Ryan Hoffman.

But the burden of the captaincy for 136 of his 236 games for the Warriors had taken its toll, especially as the club have failed to make the top eight since 2011.

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"I've had the captaincy coming up to six years now and that's a pretty long time," Mannering said.

"I definitely could say I didn't achieve what I wanted to as captain, results wise, but as a player this was probably the best thing for myself and in turn for the club," he said of his decision to step down.

"It's been a hard couple of seasons performance wise, but in all honesty it's not the playing side of it, it's the extra commitment outside of football that wore me down a bit.

"You've got quite a bit more commitment, traveling back and forth from Aussie and more stuff over here as captain.

"It was starting to wear me down a bit and if I could just lead the team out each week, I'd keep the role for sure, but that's not the case and I lost a bit of enjoyment there, so it was probably best I moved on."

At the end of last season, when the Warriors were on their eight-game losing streak and many senior players were out injured, Mannering was not only battling to keep the team's spirits up, but he was also ill.

He continued playing when he shouldn't have, because he felt a responsibility towards the team, but when the NRL season finished, he was in no state to go on the Kiwis' tour to England.

Mannering, who wants to remain Kiwis captain, discussed leadership of the Warriors with Warriors coach Andrew McFadden at the end of last year, but his decision to relinquish his role was made recently.

"It was an honest conversation with Cappy the end of last year and into this year, about moving forward as a group and what's best for the team and myself," he said.

"We talked through a few different scenarios and in the end, I came to the decision that it was probably best that I stepped aside in the captaincy role.

"It was a very hard decision, but I'm happy with it now and I'm looking forward to getting on with it, moving forward as a group and supporting Ryan."

McFadden said he didn't want Mannering to rush his decision and told him to think about it again.

"It's a big decision for him, he's done it for a long time and I needed to be sure that he was sure," McFadden said.

"He came to me a couple of weeks ago and told me that was his position. I made him think about it, make sure and he's come to that conclusion.

"I saw how much the end of last year took its toll on Simon," McFadden added.

"That's what prompted discussions at the end of the year and those discussions were on how we support his leadership, rather than any leadership change. It's Simon who came to that conclusion, but I can see why he made that decision."

McFadden could have gone with Shaun Johnson or Issac Luke as his next captain, but felt Hoffman was the obvious choice for him.

"We considered other options, but Ryan's consistency as a person both on and off the field, along with the fact that he upholds all of our values at the club made him a clear candidate," he said.

"He'll handle all of those off field obligations pretty easily and I don't think it will affect his performances."