SYDNEY - Benji Marshall has some New Zealand rookies to help deflect the spotlight when the NRL gathers momentum.
Marshall, with only four first-grade appearances for the Wests Tigers, has been trumpeted as the next big thing in league circles.
Veteran coach Tim Sheens has tried to dampen the hype, but the expectation placed on the Whakatane teenager's shoulders is immense.
Laurie Daley, a former prodigy of Sheens' at the Raiders, has done his bit to help his old mentor by heaping praise on 18-year-old Bulldog Sonny Bill Williams.
The explosive back-rower/centre makes his first-grade debut against Parramatta tonight and in Daley's view "he will be the best player New Zealand has ever produced".
"He is awesome. Big, strong, quick on his feet and skilful. He will be one of the greats," Daley said.
Williams' size and speed tormented St George-Illawarra on the Gold Coast two weeks ago in a trial game, prompting Dragons coach Nathan Brown to put him in the same class as the young Gorden Tallis.
The Aucklander is one of nine players making their first-grade debut this weekend.
The others New Zealanders are Broncos wing Karmichael Hunt, Roosters prop Anthony Tupou, Warriors' second-rower Epalahame Lauaki, and 27-year-old Bulldogs' prop Hutch Maiava.
Maiava started taking league seriously only 2 1/2 years ago, when Williams and Hunt were 15-year-old schoolboys.
Daley said Hunt was one of the best prospects in the state in the past five years.
"I haven't seen a lot of him but if you look through previous 17- and 18-year-olds to play under Wayne Bennett at the Broncos - Darren Lockyer, Justin Hodges and Brett Seymour - you see that the Broncos don't miss when they blood what they regard as a special talent."
Equally impressive at fullback or centre, Hunt starred in the custodian's role for the Australian Schoolboys against his homeland last year.
He was in the same team as Marshall but, unlike the fleet-footed utility with the kangaroo-hop side step, he hasn't been drawn on his international allegiance.
Marshall, who completed high school on the Gold Coast last year, settled speculation by saying in an NRL video: "I talked it over with my mother and I want to play for New Zealand."
He will miss the opening-round joust against Cronulla after straining a calf muscle.
Williams will want his play to do the talking against the Eels after attracting criticism in the Bulldogs' sex scandal.
He was among Bulldogs players condemned for their casual dress sense when arriving to be questioned by police.
Tupou will be making a debut delayed by almost a year when he plays for the Roosters against South tomorrow. Last year, he snapped a tibia during a training sprint before a scheduled run against Cronulla.
For rugged prop Maiava, running on to Telstra Stadium is not exactly a dream come true.
The relaxed Aucklander tried his luck in the NRL only at his Auckland club coach's insistence, but has dropped 30kg in 18 months to earn his spot.
The other first-grade debutantes are Newcastle fullback David Seage, Manly centre Paul Stephenson, St George-Illawarra prop Justin Poore and his team-mate, back-rower Ryan Powell.
- NZPA
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