Jeremy Marshall-King to start first game in NRL as Canterbury chase first victory

FIND out why coach Dean Pay opted to replace Matt Frawley with Jeremy Marshall-King, younger brother of Tigers star Benji, as Canterbury chase their first win.

Bulldogs recruit Jeremy Marshall-King to debut

JEREMY Marshall-King has been given some timely advice from his famous brother as he prepares to wear the No. 6 jersey for the first time in the NRL.

Canterbury coach Dean Pay brought the axe down on Matt Frawley and opted for 22-year-old rookie Marshall-King to partner Kieran Foran in the halves for Friday’s ANZ Stadium clash against Penrith.

The Dogs have leaked 30 points or more in their opening two matches, with Marshall-King a solid defender and “natural footy player’’, said Pay.

Marshall-King will start his first NRL game.

Brother Benji, who wears the Wests Tigers No. 6 a few hours later on Friday night, said his younger sibling would handle the starting role, and had brought plenty of energy off the bench in the Dogs’ opening two matches.

“I gave him some tips about having a run early and getting himself into the game,’’ Benji told The Daily Telegraph.

“Playing in the halves is different to hooker, and you have to get yourself into the game and feel like you’re present.

“He’s always had talent and he’s always been the fittest.

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“When he was here at the Tigers, he wanted to stay and play with me, but when the opportunity came up to play with the Bulldogs, I told him he had to take it where there was more opportunity.

‘There’s going to be a point when we might come up against each other, so I will have to stop giving him tips.’’

Pay said of the Marshall-King move: “He deserves his chance, he’s been good off the bench, and I want competition for spots.

“To put it simply, he’s a natural footy player, he’s a strong defender, he gets his chance to play along side Kieran, ‘Mo’ (Moses Mbye) and ‘Leech’ (Michael Lichaa), and they worked well together in the pre-season.

“Last Friday was frustrating, we didn’t play well at all.

“I don’t know if it was the short turnaround — only one of the four teams who played in Perth won last weekend — and while that’s no excuse, we’ve had the full week of training and looking forward to producing a better performance.’’

Mbye’s move to fullback has been one of the positives for the Dogs start to the season, but it has also forced Pay to unearth a halves partner for Foran.

Frawley will play reserve grade this weekend, and while he helped set up a try in the second half against the Sydney Roosters, his kicking game was quiet, with Mbye’s left boot utilised more at the end of sets.

Josh Cleeland is another halves option.