But Canberra Raiders winger Nick Cotric isn't your average teenage footballer - he is one of the frontrunners for the NRL's rookie of the year award.

Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker heaped praise on the youngster after Cotric crossed the line for the sixth try of his young NRL career on Saturday night.

While Croker was celebrating his 200th NRL game, and Cotric playing in just his 11th, the pair are by no means at opposite ends of their careers.

It's a left-edge pairing that is improving every week and it's one Canberra fans could get used to seeing in years to come.

"He's been strong, he's getting better and better each week," Croker said.

"You can hear teams out there screaming his name out and it's just water off a duck's back.

"He's going really well, he's a kid, he's raw, and he's got a lot to learn. If he keeps going the way he is, he's going to have a good career as well.

"I'm just pleased to be able to help him out. He helps me out too, he's a good talker. He's learning the game really quickly so I think we're forming a good little combination down there."

Cotric says Croker has been a huge help for his own game but laughed off the prospect of one day emulating the Raiders captain's feat of 200 games.

Instead he is focused on putting one foot in front of the other every time he steps out onto the field.

"Just baby steps at a time and we'll see what happens," Cotric said.

"The boys are helping me out heaps, so I've just been working hard at training and just been playing outside Toots, he's such a good player, and I've got [Josh Papalii] too in there and [Aidan] Sezer so it's been good.

"We're starting to get things together, all the one per centers at training have been working. Happy for the boys and happy for Toots [Croker]."