Former Wallaby and local Lennox Head resident Berrick Barnes has praised Melbourne Storm players Josh Addo-Carr and George Jennings who have been training on the the NSW North Coast with Wallabies attack coach Scott Wisemantel.

Barnes and Wisemantel are close friends and live nearby while Wisemantel is close with Storm official Frank Ponissi.

“Josh and George have been fantastic up here, they’ve got involved with the community, they’ve had kids trailing them every day, they’ve gone surfing, they’ve done some work with the Healthy Minds Club charity, so I can’t fault them,” Barnes told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Addo-Carr and Jennings will head back to the Victorian capital next week.

The training group also includes current Wallaby Reece Hodge.

“I’ve trained with them every day. We get a lot of rugby players come through town because Pete lives here, but in terms of current NRL stars, there aren’t too many. To see Josh train the other day, and Reece Hodge was there as well, they were all training together, and you had kids running out on to the oval to get selfies with Josh.”

Meanwhile Newcastle are expected to name veteran prop David Klemmer as their new captain – replacing embattled halfback Mitch Pearce.