One of my favourite aspects of every new season are the seeing which players will make their debut and hit the ground running.
Last year we saw Jacob Preston provide hope to an entire fanbase.
We saw Sunia Turuva emerge as the Rookie of the Year after being called in to replace Tyrone May after a season-ending injury looked like it may weaken the Penrith backline.
Jahream Bula showed signs of possessing talent that could be a major contributing factor in his side finally ending a decade long finals drought.
Who will step up in 2024 and provide similar stories?
Below is a look at 10 rookies I would certainly be keeping an eye on in 2024.
Of course I can't name all the players I believe will mak their debut. Nor can I promise the ten below even will. They're just players I expect to make a big impact, one way or another in the coming season.
Please note: To qualify for this list you need to have played five games or less in the top grade. So the likes of Tallis Duncan and Tom Jenkins won't appear.
Super League players won't be considered, if they've played more than five games in the Super League.
With that said, below are ten of the best rookies to look out for in 2024:
I saw enough in Hughes in his five appearances last season to suggest he's going to be a mainstay in the Dogs pack for 2024 and beyond.
The 23-year-old will surely see both his minutes and role within the team increase with his experience.
Standing over 190cm and weighing in at 111kgs, Hughes is exactly what the Dogs need to refresh a less than stellar few years in the engine room.
I'd be shocked if he wasn't named on the interchange bench from round one. He is a player the Dogs need to priortise due to his tremendous upside.
Hughes won't produce the highlight reels of others on this list but he is a player the Bulldogs fan base should be very excited about.
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20 year-old Jack Bostock looks as though he will add plenty of games to his four previous NRL appearances in the upcoming season.
I agree with the majority of predicted lineups that have him on the wing over Tesi Niu.
Playing outside of either Jake Averillo or Herbie Farnworth should provide the young flyer with plenty of opportunities.
With another full NRL pre-season under his belt, he looks to have filled out on his 194cm frame.
If his 2024 late-season form is anything to go off, 2024 should be a very exciting year for Bostock. Look for him to make that wing spot his own.
Tyrone Munro's name was already on my Round One Rabbitohs sign but the horror injury to Campbell Graham pretty much confirms it now.
Munro hit the ground running in 2023 scoring three tries in his three appearances. At only 19 year's of age he is very raw but very talented.
The NRL off-season would have done his well and the major knock on him was his sleight frame. Being 18 at the time, that's no criticism, just factual.
Souths have a long and illustrious history of try-scoring wingers. Given the brief glimpse we've had so far, Munro looks ready to continue that.
Given the events of recent days, I believe he'll be running out in Vegas in a few weeks time. He has the chance to nail down that wing spot and has all the ability to do just that.
After making the move from the Wests Tigers in the off-season, Aitasi James is very much in the running for a bench spot in round one for his new side Manly.
Having run out five times in the NRL, the nerves should be gone and with a full pre-season under his belt, his confidence high.
He is listed as a lock but at 188cm and over 110kilos could very easily make the slightest of shifts into the prop engine room.
Manly have some exciting middle forwards and I would certainly include Aitasi's name in that list.
Look for him to make an immediate impact if selected for his new club. Manly pinched a good one here from the Tigers.
There's a reason the Tigers worked so hard to nab Samuela and his brother Latu from the Sea Eagles.
Latu will probably spend the season in NSW Cup. He is only 18 year's of age but arguably one of the best prospects on this list.
Samuela will plenty of First Grade in 2024. He is a big boy and arrives with five NRL appearances already to his name.
At only 20 year's of age, Fainu is a tremendous prospect. Hopefully the Tigers make him a big part of their build for the future because he has all the talent.
I cannot stress enough how NRL ready this kid is. Expect his early season efforts to have Tigers fans sporting big smiles.
If not for a horror ACL injury in the pre-season last year, I have no doubt that Kade Dykes would have 15 or-so NRL games under his belt.
There's talk that he'll enter the side via the bench or in the centres but for mine Dykes will soon slot into the position his dad occupied for so long, at five-eighth.
22 year-old Dykes is two games into his NRL career, both at fullback, but he was named in the 2022 NSW Cup side of the year wearing the number six.
Dykes used his rehab time to transform his body and has returned to training a much bigger physical presence.
He will have to perform well for the Jets for a month before coming into consideration but any injury, Origin call up or form drop in the halves should see him grab the number six jersey.
Zero Tackle's 2024 NRL Season Guide is now live, and this year, it's FREE! Over 120 pages of content, with every player profiled, full team lists, stats and expectations for every team. Get your FREE DOWNLOAD now.
If you want to talk about young, excitement machines, look no further than the Storm's young superstar.
Some might recognise Faalogo from his two try debut against the Broncos last season, but most would surely know him from his magnificent Pacific Championship showings for Samoa.
He made 17 tackle breaks and two line breaks against the literal best in the world against the Kangaroos and Kiwis. He was blistering!
Craig Bellamy is one of the best in the business when it comes to knowing when to blood young players but even he must be tempted to see what this kid can do.
I hope to see his name on the round one bench for the Storm as he's one, even as a neutral, I cannot wait to see again.
In the surface this may look a strange entry as if all goes well for the Sharks this year, Stonestreet may not even get a game.
That said, once he enters the side, it's going to be near on impossible to drop him. Especially if an injury allows him a month to showcase his talents.
Stonestreet is lightning fast, something the Sharks have lacked out wide for a few seasons now.
The then 20 year-old made easy work is his first season in NSW Cup crossing for 13 tries in his 16 games. I expect that strike-rate to further improve in the early rounds this year.
Most importantly of all this youngster has a calm and smart head on his shoulders. Sharks fans should be very excited.
Raiders youngster Chevy Stewart may be the most exciting prospect on this list. Right now, you'd be my early prediction for Rookie of the Year honours.
Indications are that he'll start the season in his preferred fullback position, with fellow excitement machine Xavier Savage shifting to the wing.
At only 18 years of age, he could still play Jersey Flegg. That said, his talents would be wasted anywhere but in the top grade.
Being so young, Raiders fans need to be patient. With young players comes inevitable errors and bad decisions but any early growing pains will be well worth it.
If Stewart hits the ground running, we could see him in that lime green number one jersey for a very, very long time to come.
Let me be frank here. The fact that Kayal Iro hasn't yet played 20 NRL games is a major miss on the Sharks behalf.
Iro was the NSW Cup Player of the Year in 2022 and the centre of the year in 2023 and routinely makes opponents look a far distant second best.
I was shocked he turned up for Sharks training given the reported interest both here and abroad. I dare suggest that if he doesn't receive the First Grade footy his talents deserve then this will be his last year in the Shire.
Iro made his NRL debut in 2022, on the wing via a very late call up. He ran for 188 metres and made 12 tackle breaks.
Sifa Talakai himself has described Iro as having "most potential out of all of us (in) our whole back line".
Once he debuts, that left centre spot is his. Screenshot this statement!
Zero Tackle's 2024 NRL Season Guide is now live, and this year, it's FREE! Over 120 pages of content, with every player profiled, full team lists, stats and expectations for every team. Get your FREE DOWNLOAD now.