Kyle Flanagan is just the tip of the iceberg.
Cronulla are expected to bring through the most exciting crop of youngsters in the club's history over the next few years with Flanagan, the son of coach Shane, the first cab off the rank in Sunday's win over Newcastle.
The fruits of Flanagan's labour are now showing after he set up the club's elite academy five years ago and convinced the club to invest time, money and effort into their junior systems.
He nominated Brayden Brailey - the brother of hooker Jayden - and Bronson Cherry as juniors closing in elevation to the NRL.
Rookie playmaker Jack Williams - not the Jack Williams who made his debut in second row earlier this year - and Billy Magoulias were also making names for themselves at feeder side Newtown.
"Hopefully there's a few boys that come through the ranks," said Kyle Flanagan after his first taste of first grade.
"We've trained forever throughout the last five years and that's a goal for me - to play with my mates who I've come through the ranks with. That would be unbelievable."
Flanagan was told he would make his debut on Friday after it was decided to rest Matt Moylan due to a leg injury.
It was widely expected he would be blooded this year after he smashed the under-20s competition pointscoring record last year with 20 tries and 140 goals.
He revealed he thought his chance had passed him by this year and was expecting to be overlooked for the rest of the season due to the finals being two weeks away.
"I was shocked. I actually thought my chance for the season was over," he said.
"I got my opportunity and I was super-excited. The older blokes made it pretty simple, I just had to make my tackles."
Flanagan Sr has consistently said he would be unafraid to promote his son and said he was no different to any other player.
"He treats me the same as everyone else," the debutant said, after the pair became the first father-son coach and player partnership since John and Martin Lang at Penrith in 2004.
"If we're watching the footy he can't switch off from being a coach, but other than that we don't talk about footy too much."
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