The Wests Tigers appear to have uncovered a new teen sensation with Moses Suli living up to the hype on his NRL debut against South Sydney.
Despite having just two games of under-20s experience to his name, Jason Taylor threw the highly-touted winger in at the deep end in the joint-venture's 34-18 thumping of the Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
Hype surrounding the western Sydney product reached fever pitch after he signed a three-year deal worth a reported $1.3 million earlier this year.
It's an unprecedented figure for a player so inexperienced and the Tigers did their best to keep his selection under wraps, only revealing he'd be in the starting line up an hour before kick-off.
Suli didn't have it all his own way - dropping his first touch of the ball - before being found badly out of position when a limping Greg Inglis gathered a Cody Walker grubber to score just before halftime.
However, there was plenty to like about the 106kg giant's first outing as he finished with a try and two try assists.
"It was alright, I just had to get those nerves out, which I did and just played my game afterwards," Suli said.
Suli, who was seven when Inglis made his State of Origin debut in 2006, admitted he was starstruck when the Souths skipper lined up opposite him in the second half after switching to the right wing due to his knee injury.
"I was like 'oh wow'," Suli said.
"I've been watching him since I was young. It was actually a dream come true."
Taylor has shown tremendous faith in Suli, who last played in round eight of the 2016 Holden Cup after his season was ended by a back injury.
The former Souths coach praised him for the way he shrugged off his early error and said he was blessed with great confidence and resilience.
"It's one of the things that stood out in pre-season, because we put each other under pressure a lot at training," Taylor said.
"What has impressed everybody is that if he makes an error he just gets up and gets on with it.
"He's not 18 in that regard. A lot of 18-year-olds would be ruing that."
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