Sheens shows faith in teenage halfback
Adrian Proszenko
April 3, 2011
JACOB MILLER will make his NRL debut against his old club, in a rematch of one of the greatest NRL matches ever, with Kiwi captain Benji Marshall as his halves partner. Most teenagers in this situation would be forgiven for being overawed. Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens, however, is unconcerned.
''This lad can play,'' Sheens said. ''I know he's only 18 but he's a good solid kid and there's a confidence about him. As I did with Robert Lui when I elevated him from the [under-]20s, I think the kid will do a good job. I'm not going to place too many expectations on him. He was put in the full-time squad, he's been training with us full-time since last year so he's no rookie in that respect. He knows everything we've been doing.
''He played in the Townsville trial as starting halfback and we beat them up there and he had some time against Parramatta in the Campbelltown trial. He's been very strong in the [under-]20s, scoring two tries and kicking something like 10 from 10\. He knows exactly our game, plays our style.''
Miller will take on the playmakers who stood in his way at the Roosters - Mitchell Pearce, Todd Carney and Braith Anasta - at the SFS today. Kangaroos coach Sheens is convinced he is up to it. His assistant, Peter Gentle, was so impressed with the youngster from the northern NSW coastal town of Ocean Shores while overseeing the NSW under-18s team which beat Queensland last year that he gave him the captaincy.
''The seniors around him, [Robbie] Farah and Marshall, will be of great help, too,'' Sheens added. ''It's not ideal, I'd like to have a lot more senior people around him at this point but the old adage applies in this case - if you're good enough, you're old enough and I know this kid will play well.''
Miller's first opportunity is unlikely to be his last. Given the nod for the No.7 jersey instead of utility Tim Moltzen, he is likely to be given plenty of time to acclimatise to first grade while regular halfback Robert Lui, expected to be out for six weeks, recovers from an ankle injury.
The Tigers have a big injury toll with Chris Lawrence, Lote Tuqiri, Gareth Ellis, Liam Fulton, Bryce Gibbs and Beau Ryan also in the casualty ward. Sheens had no complaints and said he was happy with his squad over the opening three rounds. ''I don't want to be whingeing about injury, I'm confident in the team we've put out,'' he said. ''We've still got plenty of work to do, we're not kidding ourselves.
''I've been pretty happy with the first three rounds given we are nowhere near our best as far as experience is concerned.
''I've been very happy with the efforts of the young guys and particularly the senior guys sprinkled among them who have held it all together - the older ones, Benj, Robbie Farah, Todd Payten in limited circumstances, Chris Heighington, Wade McKinnon at the back, Chris Lawrence, [Blake] Ayshford and Tuqiri.''
