New recruit Josh Starling has played with and against his fair share of good props over the years, and says he sees something special in the forward stocks at the nib Newcastle Knights.
“There’s a good young team of really exciting players like the Saifiti twins,” he said at a press conference on Monday morning.
“I watched them play a lot last year.”
Jacob and Daniel twins are going into their second NRL pre-season alongside 21-year-old toiler Josh King, and Starling is looking forward to linking up with the youthful forwards.
“For a team that didn’t go well, they were standouts and made a lot of metres last season,” he explained.
“They’re big and strong and they’re still only young.
“So they’ll get bigger and better, and once they’ve got a couple of years under their belt they’re going to be something special.”
While Starling has only been around the squad for a couple of days, he says he’s already picked up on a positive energy from the Club’s younger players as well.
“I feel old now that I’m here, there’s a lot of young guys and they’re hungry,” he said.
“You need a bit of fire in your belly, and these kids have definitely got it.”
Starling is only on a one-year contract currently, but he says he’s determined to play his way into a longer commitment.
“I definitely don’t want to be one and done, so hopefully I can have a good start to the season and get that out of the way early,” he said.
“I’ve got to have a good pre-season and play good trials to put myself in the position to be in the team in the first place.
“Once that’s sorted, I’ll need to play consistent footy in the front row and take those tough carries.”
