IT was at Shark Park early last season when Ryan Rivett first caught the eye of Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien.
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Playing for Cronulla's Jersey Flegg side, the crafty halfback guided the Sharks to a comfortable 34-12 win over the Knights in the NSW under-21s competition.
He set-up two tries, scored one of his own and kicked five from six conversions.
If you told the young playmaker that day - April Fool's Day - that he would be playing his first NRL game for the Knights almost a year later, he surely would have thought you were joking.
So too O'Brien, who is handing the Gosford-born 20-year-old his debut against the Dolphins after up to 10 players from Newcastle's top-30 roster were unavailable for tonight's game due to injury or suspension.
But the coach liked what he saw in Rivett last April, and what the talented youngster has shown since arriving at the Knights late last year.
"Fit, tough, competitive - everything that we're trying to build here," he said. "That's a player that we value.
"I watched a [trial] game [Newcastle's NSW Cup side played] against the Newcastle Rebels team. He got the ball back off a short kick-off and really turned the tide.
"There's just a little snapshot into him. He wants to win footy games, he's a bit of a competitor that way, a bit of flashiness about him."
Rivett won't be the only debutant at McDonald Jones Stadium. Dylan Lucas was also named on the bench and Thomas Cant was drafted in on Thursday to replace Jack Johns, who has failed to recover from an ankle injury.
"Dylan has been with us for a number of years now and he always wins the pre-season in terms of fitness," O'Brien said of Lucas, a 22-year-old Illawarra product. "Dylan is a hard-worker, he is fit and tough."
Cant is an East Maitland Griffins junior who captained the Jersey Flegg team last year. The Knights had to seek NRL approval for him and Rivett to play, as neither are in the top-30 roster.
Newcastle have about $5 million worth of talent sidelined, including Kalyn Ponga, Jayden Brailey, Adam Clune (concussion), Tyson Frizell (ankle), Jacob Saifiti (suspended), Adam Elliott (groin), Kurt Mann, Simi Sasagi and Kristian Mapapalangi (shoulder).
Despite the injury crisis, O'Brien said the debutants had made for an "exciting week" focused on recovery.
Veteran centre Dane Gagai will lead the side out in his 150th Knights appearance tonight and co-captain with Jackson Hastings.
The Dolphins are missing prop Jarrod Wallace (injury) and hooker Jeremy Marshall-King (suspension), who was one of their best in their wins over the Roosters (28-18) and Raiders (20-14).
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