There are a lot of similarities to Payne Haas in 2018. For starters, Haas played stuff-all minutes in his first season. He made mega-levels of hype at that time, and when he went of injured in his third game, people were calling him a dud. Not long after, he was signed on a, what was thought to be at the time, ludicrous $600K per year over 6 years contract. Haas started at prop in 2019 and has gone on to put up record numbers, making that contract look small and undervalued.
Now, let's look at Stefano Utoikamanu. He has similar levels of hype next to his name. He also played next to no minutes in his first season and did nothing in his short game time. There was an article written earlier this year labelling him the best player yet to player NRL. That same article had hot prospects ranked below him such as Jayden Sullivan (Dragons, #10), Ethan Bullemor (Broncos, #9), and Bradman Best (Knights, #7).
Article: [The top ten players in the NRL’s next generation](https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/04/17/the-top-ten-players-in-the-nrls-next-generation/)
This is the excerpt on Stefano:
**1. Stefano Utoikamanu**
Age: 19
Position: Front row
Current club: Parramatta Eels (Wests Tigers from 2021)
Normally we talk about the Wests Tigers letting good players go, but this time around they won the contract fight for possibly the brightest young star rugby league has to offer.
If you thought Payne Haas was scary, then you probably haven’t seen Utoikamanu play yet. Officially listed at 191 centimetres and 115 kilograms, the 19-year-old has made a name for himself pushing through the Eels junior ranks, so it’s little surprise the contention for his signature ran hot in January.
He has played for New South Wales throughout the junior age brackets and was playing for Wentworthville in reserve grade action before most of his peers had finished playing SG Ball.
And for New South Wales fans, Utoikamanu and Haas as a starting front row combination somewhere into the future. Talk about scary.
