But at what point will the Newcastle Knights coach feel the urge to take a punt on a player unseen in the NRL for the past 10 months - towering centre Tautau Moga?

Newcastle's centres in Saturday's 32-20 loss to North Queensland in Townsville were off-season recruits Enari Tuala and Gehamat Shibasaki, and one of them is likely to make way this week when Bradman Best returns after being stood down for an inadvertent breach of biosecurity protocols.

In the space of seven top-grade games, 18-year-old Best has established himself as one of the rising stars of the NRL.

Tuala and Shibasaki, both 21, are bright prospects in their own right, as evidenced by their selection in the 2018 Junior Kangaroos alongside the likes Victor Radley, Nick Cotric, Kyle Flanagan, Zac Lomax and Kotoni Staggs.

But it is perhaps worth noting that Moga has played in more NRL games (69) and scored more tries (23) than Best, Tuala and Shibasaki combined.

Now 26, Moga has shown only glimpses of his potential during a career cruelly interrupted by four knee reconstructions. When he debuted for the Roosters as an 18-year-old, he earned comparisons to a young Israel Folau, yet he has since spent more time on the physio's bench than he has on the field.

His first season with Newcastle, 2018, was written off after only four games, and he had to wait until round 17 last year for another opportunity. Six games later he was dropped for debutant Best and spent the final three games of 2019 on the outer.

During the pre-season Moga was described as "flying" by O'Brien, only to suffer a hamstring strain that deprived him of any chance to push his claims in Newcastle's trial matches.

Since then circumstances, in particular the cancellation of the NSW Cup competition, have conspired to push him to No.4 in the pecking order.

But at 194 centimetres and 109 kilograms, Moga is as big as any centre in the NRL, and as he showed for Brisbane in 2017, when he scored nine tries in 27 games, he can be a potent attacking weapon.

Off contract at the end of this season, Moga's career hangs in the balance.

If and when he gets a chance, good luck to anyone standing in his way.