David Armstrong might be replacing a Dally M medallist in Kalyn Ponga, but Knights football director Peter Parr says the rookie fullback simply has to be himself on debut against the Dolphins on Sunday.
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The young talent, a 23-year-old from northern NSW who has graduated through the Knights' development system in recent years, comes in to replace Newcastle's most high-profile and highest-paid player.
Armstrong might be on a pay packet that is only a fraction of Ponga's, but he has skills that opposition sides are unlikely to glance over.
A quick look at a YouTube video of Armstrong's highlights suggests if the custodian plays his own game that won't be a bad thing at all.
Elevated to Newcastle's top-30 roster ahead of this season, Armstrong has scored 23 tries in 28 NSW Cup games, including five in five matches this year.
"He's been there or thereabouts for a little while now," Parr said.
"He's got some speed about him and he has got high energy. He's a very fit athlete and he is on the ball all the time. He's the type of player where things happen around him.
"He doesn't have to go out there and try and play like Kalyn does, he has to go out there to his strengths.
"And his strengths are on the ball, he's a very good support player and I expect that if we can make any half breaks or line-breaks, he won't be far away from the action."
Die-hard Knights fans will be well aware of Armstrong's name. He is one of two rising fullbacks at the club. The other is 19-year-old Cessnock gun Fletcher Sharpe.
But even the average fan may have seen Armstrong before. In Newcastle's first trial this year, a 44-18 win over Cronulla at Gosford, he scored a double playing on the right wing. In a 40-minute stint, in the words of coach Adam O'Brien, he produced multiple "clap-your-hands moments".
"He's a good fella to have around the club. He's pretty funny, young 'Davey'," Knights back-rower Dylan Lucas said of Armstrong.
"He's very electric on the field. He's fast and he competes hard.
"Obviously Kalyn and 'Davey', they are different players, but they've both got their own strengths. I can't wait to see what 'Davey' does this weekend."
Born in Moree, Armstrong grew up in Mungindi, a town on the NSW-Queensland border with a population of less than 1000.
He played his junior footy for the Mungindi Grasshoppers and Goondiwindi Boars.
He also played rugby union for three years while at boarding school in Toowoomba, and in 2019 had a stint with Redcliffe - the club he will now debut against - in the Mal Mengina Cup, Queensland's premier under-18s competition.
His talents really come to fore in 2021, when he scored 38 tries playing for Goondiwindi in first-grade Toowoomba Rugby League. The haul included four tries in the Boars' 26-20 grand final win over Highfields Eagles.
That form earned him a start at the Knights, and after a couple of years in NSW Cup, he was promoted last year to the NRL squad on a season-long deal for 2024.
"He's a ball of energy, on and off the field," Knights prop Jacob Saifiti, who plays his 150th game this week, said. "He's lightning quick.
"He'll be supporting us through the middle there. He's really good at his job. I'm really excited for him."
