It is the NRL debut more than a decade in the making but Paul McGregor is adamant the long wait will have been worth it for Darren Nicholls.
At 29-years-old, Nicholls will become the oldest debutant half in the NRL era when the Dragons clash with the Storm in Melbourne tonight.
Nicholls will replace Ben Hunt at halfback with the Dragons without their State of Origin quintet of Hunt, Tyson Frizell, Paul Vaughan, Jack de Belin and Tariq Sims for the trip south.
Melbourne will be without six Origin stars of their own, shearing plenty of elite talent from what promised to be a showpiece match between the competition-leading Dragons and one of the NRL’s longstanding benchmark teams.
But for Nicholls, the match will be the culmination of his long journey to the top grade.
He played halfback for the Wests Tigers in the inaugural Toyota Cup season in 2008 before spending two years playing professionally in France.
Nicholls returned to Australia to play reserve grade with Wyong before switching between South Sydney and Brisbane with two stints at each club. He then won a NSW Cup title at Penrith before arriving at the Dragons.
And McGregor said the time was right for Nicholls to finally crack an NRL start.
“It’s outstanding. Number one he’s a really good person. And you can see why he’s been in so many systems because of that,” he said.
“He works hard at training. He’s perfect to have in a squad when you’re playing opposed and get reserve grade to throw the opposition’s attack at you. He does that very well.
“And for me he’s a genuine halfback. He’s got a good kicking game, defensively he’s improved out of sight this year. And there’s no better person that gets the rewards than him.”
The Dragons’ depth will be tested elsewhere with Leeson Ah Mau returning at prop, a new-look back row of Jacob Host, Blake Lawrie and Luciano Leilua and Hame Sele and Reece Robson added to the bench.
But McGregor said while the Storm clash would be a different challenge for his side it was one they could overcome.
“[It’s] certainly a good opportunity for a lot of our players who have been waiting for this chance around Origin time. We’ve been building them up nicely and giving them a lot of time in reserve grade,” he said.
“All the blokes that are coming into the game besides Darren have all played a little bit of first grade this year as well.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the shed. These guys have been waiting for this opportunity. They need to go out there and really give their all.
“Obviously the players that are here, the international players and the more senior players need to really hold the standards they’ve been playing with each week [as well].”
