Penrith veteran Peter Wallace has seen hundreds of players, young and old, looking to make their mark over the 13 summers he has spent preparing for NRL seasons.
But he is adamant none have impressed him more than rookie Dylan Edwards, who is the latest winger selected to play for the Panthers following an early mini-crisis on the flanks.
A fractured eye socket to Peta Hiku in Penrith's round-one loss has opened the door for Edwards to play his second NRL game on Sunday and Wallace can't wait to see how he fares
"He's performed the best pre-season by anyone I've ever seen really," Wallace said.
"He's been outstanding in all areas of it. I know he's primed for a big year. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes this weekend. He was outstanding.
"Some of the times he ran ... we had a really tough pre-season too."
Edwards was one of the Panthers' best on their way to a shock appearance in the Auckland Nines final before again performing strongly in both their trials.
And while he remained deep in the pecking order of wingers at Penrith, injuries to Josh Mansour, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and now Hiku have paved the way for his season debut.
Watene-Zelezniak was named on an extended bench by coach Anthony Griffin on Tuesday but skipper Matt Moylan believes the Kiwi international is only a rough chance of playing.
"I think he's only just started running on the field this week. It's probably a bit too early to call that one. I think he'll be thereabouts in the next couple of weeks," Moylan said.
"(Edwards) played a game last year and he's a good, young kid.
"He's trained the house down throughout the pre-season and he's a confident kid. He's played Junior Kangaroos last year. He gets another opportunity there and he's ready to take that."
Moylan denied the side has missed the impact of their first-choice flankers in Mansour and Watene-Zelezniak, who were vital in their push to a semi-final last year.
Mansour isn't due back until round 12 as he continues to recover from a knee reconstruction.
"We've got a lot of depth here and we've got a lot of quality players as well. The boys done an outstanding job on the weekend and everyone that steps into that role will do good," he said.
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