For the first time, Jesse Ramien wears his new red and blue colours in the NRL.
It’s only fitting that his first battle for the nib Newcastle Knights will be against his former team, Cronulla.
The Knights launch their season at McDonald Jones Stadium with two ex-Sharks headlining a star-studded list of new recruits.
The classy centre shined in his first full season in the NRL and made a real case to win the Rookie of the Year at the 2018 Dally M Awards, where he was closely beaten by Brisbane Bronco’s winger and the season leading points scorer, Jamayne Isaako.
Having started in 20 games for the Sharks in 2018, Ramien crossed the line 10 times, which included a double against the Knights in Cronulla’s 48-10 victory back in Round 12.
Ramien was then awarded for his stellar season, being selected in the Prime Minister’s XIII who faced Papua New Guinea at the end of 2018.
It's fair to say, the Sharks never wanted to lose the young gun but the allure of a regular spot and being closer to family was too good to pass up.
"My little girl (LaSharn) is up here on the Central Coast as well, so to play at a professional level and be close to her and to see her grow up, I'm pretty lucky," he said in a recent interview with NRL.com.
Ramien is joined at the Knights by former Shark, Edrick Lee.
The pair formed a lethal right edge combination, scoring 22 tries between them.
Lee made 24 appearances in the two seasons with the Sharks, scoring 14 tries, two of which were against the Knights in 2018.
In their two outings against the Sharks in 2018, the Knights were beaten 48-10 and 38-12 respectively.
But with the addition of two ex-Sharks players, the Knights will hope to end the string of defeats in what shapes as an exciting first game of the season.
