One of my favourite events each and every NRL season is seeing young stars emerge.
Whether they be rookies who catch the attention of fans right away, like a Sam Walker or Reece Walsh, or a player who finally delivered on their promise, it never fails to bring a smile to fans' faces.
2022 looks like a season where a huge crop of talent see their stocks rise in a big way.
I'm going to look into my crystal ball and try to predict ten such players.
Players who will enjoy a Will Kennedy 2021-like season. Kennedy went from a handy fringe first grader to the star of the team over the course of this past year.
Players like Reece Walsh, Jayden Campbell and Sam Walker will be better at the end of 2022 than they are now, but their stocks are already sky high.
Much like past lists, this is purely for fun and not to be taken overly seriously. There will be misses on the below but if you asked me now; "Hey Dan, name 10 players you want to buy stock in now, to cash in end of season," these are those 10.
10. Simi Sasagi
Sasagi is the only player on this list I'm not certain (injury allowing) will start in Round 1. He certainly should!
All the talk coming out of the Hunter is that young Simi is already more than matching it with his more experienced, older and larger teammates.
He has two NRL games to his name, one at centre and one from the bench, but he could very well be the silver lining in Mitchell Pearce leaving the club.
It will be a lot of pressure to throw a 20-year-old in to partner Jake Clifford but no matter where Sasagi ends up, he will have a breakout 2022 season.
