It's a glimpse into the Canberra Raiders' future and coach Ricky Stuart backs it to get the job done - just like Tom Starling's done for the Green Machine in the past.
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With Josh Hodgson (knee) out for a couple of weeks, Starling will lead the hooking duties with Adrian Trevilyan to be his back-up against the North Queensland Cowboys at Townsville on Saturday.
And with Hodgson off to the Parramatta Eels next year, Starling and Trevilyan could be the Raiders' dummy half duo of the future.
It will just be Starling's 11th NRL start and Trevilyan's debut as the Green Machine looks to carry on their winning start to the season.
Stuart has mostly preferred to bring Starling off the bench, sometimes shifting usual starter Hodgson to lock to add some extra ball playing to his middle unit.
But Starling's running game has also been effective from the get go and his coach backed him to do it again.
"It is a very good opportunity for Tom. He's had that opportunity before and hasn't let us down," Stuart said.
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Hodgson's not the Raiders' only absentee, with co-captain Jarrod Croker (back) also out of the line-up.
With Jamal Fogarty (knee) and Brad Schneider (COVID-19) also missing, there's a question mark over who will take over the goal-kicking duties.
Corey Harawira-Naera and James Schiller were the front runners, with the former having kicked for Penrith in the NSW Cup, while the latter took a shot during the pre-season trials.
Stuart left the door open for Sebastian Kris to come into the side by naming him 19th man as the outside back continued his return from a week's isolation as a close contact.
While COVID-19 has robbed Townsville product Schneider of playing in front of his hometown crowd, Trevilyan could get a dream NRL debut.
And Stuart pointed to Schneider as an example of what the youngsters coming through the Raiders' ranks were capable of.
They've largely been forced to train for the past two years due to the pandemic, with barely any game time to prove themselves.
Instead, they've needed to do that on the training track.
Schneider showed plenty of promise as Canberra's starting halfback in the win over Cronulla on the weekend and Stuart said that also pointed to Trevilyan delivering on his promise too.
Trevilyan looked lively in the Raiders' first pre-season trial when he started at hooker and scored a try out of dummy half before a head knock ended his afternoon early.
"One of their local boys in Brad Schneider can't go through COVID and another one in Adrian gets an opportunity to play in front of his family and friends," Stuart said.
"And what a great opportunity, albeit quite lucky for him, but such a great moment.
"Trevvy's been great over the last couple of years in his application at training.
"That's why we're picking these young players - they're getting picked on the back of their sacrifices and commitment to training.
"Like so many of the other young boys in under-20s and NSW Cup level over the last two years there has been very limited football.
"Brad Schneider was a great example last week. It goes to show you that we were correct in that and we're correct in Adrian too - he's just a young boy starting his NRL career."
NRL ROUND TWO
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Townsville, 7.35pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Semi Valemei, 5. James Schiller, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Matt Frawley, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Elliott Whitehead. Interchange: 14. Adrian Trevilyan, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Xavier Savage, 19. Sebastian Kris, 20. Sam Williams, 21. Ryan Sutton, 22. Peter Hola, 23. Trey Mooney, 24. Harry Rushton.
Cowboys squad: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Valentine Holmes, 4. Peta Hiku, 5. Murray Taulagi, 6. Tom Dearden, 7. Chad Townsend, 8. Jordan McLean, 9. Reece Robson, 10. Coen Hess, 11. Tom Gilbert, 12. Jeremiah Nanai, 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14. Jake Granville, 15. Heilum Luki, 16. Mitchell Dunn, 17. Griffin Neame. Reserves: 18. Reuben Cotter, 19. Scott Drinkwater, 20. Connelly Lemuelu, 21. Brendan Elliot, 22. Ben Condon, 23. Emry Pere, 24. Daejarn Asi.
David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
