After being promoted to the leadership group earlier this week, Jarrod Witts has vowed he will not allow complacency to ruin his plans for 2018.

Witts played 18 games in his debut season for the club and averaged a career-high numbers for disposals (13.3) and hit-outs (37.9), where he ranked fifth in the league.

But despite his metoric rise as the SUNS’ number one ruckman, Witts is still feeling the pressure with Tom Nicholls looking to bounce back from a year where he couldn’t crack the SUNS best 22.

“I obviously want to improve in a lot of areas,” Witts told SUNS TV.

“I’d say I am settled but at the same time I don’t want to get complacent.

“I have the baseline that I had last year and want to build on there with different aspects of my game.”

Joining the SUNS’ leadership group with Pearce Hanley for the first time in 2018, Witts is unsure whether he will be asked to take on a different role on the field under new coach Stuart Dew.

READ: Witts standing tall in leadership role

“We haven’t really gotten to roles in games so far but I’m sure that stuff will come in the next couple of weeks with games coming,” he said.

“I’ll go to him (Dew) and try to get specific roles and things like that with how he wants me to play.

I’m sure once we get into the games that are coming in the next coming weeks we’ll nut down on that a bit more.”

The SUNS play their first JLT Community Series game in Townsville on March 4 where Witts will get his first opportunity as a new leader of the club.