It might have been a tough first night in the office for Knights rookie winger Jake Mamo, but coach Wayne Bennett saw enough to suggest the Gosford-born flyer has a promising future ahead of him.
As far as NRL debuts go, Mamo's maiden match against a strong Brisbane Broncos side was difficult to say the least.
Yet despite a nervous start and copping a number of big hits from the Broncos, the former Ourimbah junior kept competing hard in an impressive first up effort.
Coach Bennett was pleased with Mamo's performance, admitting he'll only get better with more exposure to the top grade.
"Oh yeah I thought he was pretty confident," Bennett said after the match.
"He did a good job.
"It wasn’t easy out there for him and it was a quality footy team he was playing against, so I thought he showed us a pretty bright future."
Knights great Andrew Johns had only good things to say about Mamo.
"You know he's going to have a long career and I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching it," he said in the Channel Nine coverage.
Mamo will be looking to back up his debut match with a strong showing against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium next Saturday night.
