He’s been touted as a future captain of his club, state and country.
And Cameron Murray has taken a major step towards the latter after being named to make his Kangaroos debut against a Tonga invitational on Saturday.
The South Sydney star is lone change made by Australia coach Mal Meninga from last week’s blowout of New Zealand, taking the place of Ben Hunt.
“I’m heaps close with Cam. He’s a good mate and I’m extremely proud of him,” Kangaroos winger Josh Addo-Carr said.
“He’s a young fella coming through the ranks and for him to chuck the Aussie jersey on is something he should be very proud of.”
Murray’s selection continues a re-shaping of Meninga’s squad ahead of next year’s mooted tour of Europe.
Nine of the 17 players who featured in the corresponding Test against Tonga last year are now gone, with Murray the sixth debutant in the space of a week.
He will follow Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric, Payne Haas, Paul Vaughan and Addo-Carr to pull on the green-and-gold jumper for the first time.
Significantly, all six were also a part of Brad Fittler’s triumphant NSW squad that successfully defended the State of Origin shield this year.
However it is Murray, 21, who is predicted as a future representative skipper.
“Everyone created a great bond with each other in that NSW team and it’s carried onto other things like we do with the Aussie side,” Addo-Carr said.
“I reckon he’s going to captain his country one day.
“He’s extremely competitive, I know that. I think he’s a bit smaller than me, or even the same size, but he’s a crazy talent. He definitely works hard.
“He doesn’t speak too many words, but he leads by his actions and, like I said, I reckon he’s going to captain Australia one day.”
Vaughan paid tribute to Murray’s rapid ascension as one of the game’s best middle players despite being undersized for his position.
Murray was recently crowned Dally M lock of the year.
“There’s not too much of him. I think he’s only 94 or 95 kilo,” Vaughan said.
“To not only play in the middle but play well, and be such a great middle player, it’s a testament to himself. Good on him if he gets picked.”
The Kangaroos ramped up their preparations to face the Tonga invitational with their first field session of the week at QBE Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
KANGAROOS TEAM v TONGA INVITATIONAL XIII
1. James Tedesco, 2. Josh Addo-Carr, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Jack Wighton, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Damien Cook, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner (c), 12. Tyson Frizell, 13. Jake Trbojevic. Bench: 14. Cameron Murray, 15. Payne Haas, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Wade Graham.