St George Illawarra halfback Ben Hunt has backed fullback Zac Lomax and winger Jordan Pereira to start for the Dragons in their NRL opener next month.
Lomax and Pereira dominated a trial against Newcastle on Saturday night with the latter scoring four tries in the second half to almost certainly cement his spot on the left wing.
The Dragons are without fullback Matt Dufty (cheekbone) but have a more-than-capable replacement in 20-year-old Lomax who they lock up with a five-year, $3 million deal over the summer.
Hunt expects former centre Lomax to thrive in the No. 1 jumper from their season-opening clash against Wests Tigers on March 15.
“Attacking wise he’s feeling his way into it and making some good decisions,” Hunt told AAP.
“Defensively he’s working that out as well, it’s a bit new to him counting the numbers and sorting things out but he’s coming along well.
“It was always going to be him or Dufty (at fullback) but Dufty is out for a few weeks now so I think Zac’s got a good opportunity to really lock that position down.”
Pereira was a late bloomer who made his NRL debut in 2018 as a 24-year-old and Hunt believes his best is yet to come.
“He’s a handy winger Jordy. He’s a quality player, he’s real nuggety and robust, good out of the backfield and runs hard and shown tonight he’s got the ability to score tries,” Hunt said.
“I think he’ll be the left winger come round one, he’s shown all preseason that he deserves that spot and he didn’t let that down tonight.
“He came out and played really well and I think it’ll be hard for someone to knock him off now.”