NSW coach Bob Dwyer has rewarded his hard-working halfback Chris Whitaker with the captaincy for Friday night's Super 12 clash with the Stormers.

With regular skipper Matt Burke sidelined with a knee injury, Whitaker leapfrogged vice-captain flanker Phil Waugh into the captaincy role.

"It's not unearned, that's for sure," Dwyer said of Whitaker, who has been in superb form.

"Chris is highly respected by his teammates and by all Australian players for that matter.

"He has a strong leadership role on the field anyway so this isn't a difficult transition for him."

Whitaker, 28, led Australia A last year but this is the first time he has captained NSW.

"It's a massive honour to be named skipper of NSW because the state has such a long and rich history added to the fact that I'm taking over from a great player like Burkey," said Whitaker.

Dwyer said Waugh and centre Nathan Grey were the other contenders, but he believed Waugh had enough on his plate leading the forwards.

He will also face a huge challenge at the breakdown from Stormers skipper Corne Krige, who had a running battle in the last round with Waugh's Wallaby rival, ACT flanker George Smith.

"Waughy doing such a good job there, and he's leading by example," Dwyer said.

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