The Canberra Raiders have named two rookies for their NRL season-opening clash against the North Queensland Cowboys, but it's the performance of a brand new halves pairing that will be under most scrutiny on Saturday night.
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Centre Matt Allwood and prop Shannon Boyd, both 21, will make their NRL debuts against the Cowboys, named in an 18-man squad.
But the spotlight will be on 21-year-old Jack Wighton's debut at five-eighth in the NRL, alongside skipper Terry Campese, who will shift to halfback.
Senior Raiders halfback Josh McCrone will start on the bench, but coach Ricky Stuart confirmed he would be used primarily as an impact dummy-half for starting rake Glen Buttriss.
Stuart, a former champion half, said he had faith that Wighton and Campese would click as a halves combination - despite not playing in any of the trials together - and has given them permission to roam either side of the ruck.
It is a baptism of fire for Wighton, who has played just 27 NRL matches and will take on arguably the world's best No6, Johnathan Thurston.
''We have our plan in place, I wanted to start on the front foot and I thought I'd pick my best halves pairing for the club,'' Stuart said.
''I wouldn't put Jack there if I didn't think he wasn't going to handle it,'' Stuart said. ''He could probably play two or three positions and handle it with ease. I'm really confident Jack will do a good job.
''Time will tell. Jack's a great runner of the football, he's played fullback, centre. Campo is the type of player who can control and dictate the ruck if that's what's needed. Nowadays halves play either side of the field, yet I like going back a little bit in that regard and having my halves not so much pigeon-holed, but they can play either side [of the ruck] and pop up together.''
Allwood is the bolter who will fill the right centre position vacated by sacked State of Origin star Blake Ferguson.
Impressed by Allwood's trial form, Stuart said he would give the 21-year-old time to develop.
''He had a bit of bad luck with injury last year but he's got a lot of speed, he's defensively very strong,'' Stuart said.
'He's a young player and he's got a chance to make his mark now. I won't just come out and review him on this game, we've got to start the young blokes at some stage and there's two of them that will get their crack [this weekend].''
Boyd is the heaviest player on the books at the Raiders, the Cowra product weighing in at 119kg with a body senior Raiders prop Brett White has compared to Bulldogs big-man Sam Kasiano.
With representative props David Shillington (ribs) and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (ankle) unavailable, Boyd will be given his shot off the bench against Australian bookends James Tamou and Matt Scott.
''We're playing against three or four world-class players in this Cowboys team and I see it as a challenge more than a big task,'' Stuart said.
''You certainly find out where they're at ... they're going to get a crack at some stage so I might as well throw them in there and see how they go. I wouldn't put them in there if I wasn't confident in them.
''I asked [Boyd] to commit to a couple of things the first week I got here and I didn't know whether he was up to it or not.
''He's picked himself. Everything I've asked of Shannon has been achieved ... he was at 129kg, his body-fat was way too high and we've put a huge benchmark to him in the off-season. He's committed to it, challenged himself ... I can't ask for any more and he basically picked himself.''
RAIDERS ROUND ONE: 1. Anthony Milford 2. Reece Robinson 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Matt Allwood 5. Edrick Lee 6. Jack Wighton 7. Terry Campese (c) 8. Dane Tilse 9. Glen Buttriss 10. Brett White 11. Josh Papalii 12. Joel Edwards 13. Shaun Fensom 14. Josh McCrone 15. Jarrad Kennedy 16. Paul Vaughan 17. Shannon Boyd 18. Mark Nicholls
