He has been dubbed a Corey Parker clone and the suspension of Adam Blair and injury to Alex Glenn has opened the door for highly-touted Broncos lock forward Jai Arrow to make his NRL debut off the bench in Saturday night’s clash with the Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium.
A Queensland Residents representative in last weekend's Representative Round, 20-year-old Arrow was a member of the Junior Kangaroos this time last year and was named in the Holden Cup Team of the Year.
Arrow cleaned up all the major awards for the Under 20s team at the Broncos’ presentation night last year and has impressed many with his performances for Norths Devils in the Intrust Super Cup this season.
Scott Sattler – a veteran of 203 top-flight games – has followed the Burleigh product's progress closely since he was 14 years of age and has no doubt he will acquit himself well in the second game of the blockbuster double-header at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
“He's an NRL player waiting to happen,” said Sattler.
“It's not so much the way that he plays – because that's outstanding – it's the way that he prepares and looks after himself.
“He prepares every day as if he is an NRL player now and could get a call-up tonight.
“If a game went for a week he'd still be going and his first hit-up and his first tackle would be exactly the same as his last."
Arrow's first taste of senior football with the Broncos came in a trial against Souths Logan in February when the majority of the NRL squad was in England for the World Club Series and he said then that he would use his time in the Intrust Super Cup to prove himself to coach Wayne Bennett.
“I'm trying to prove a point and prove to Wayne [Bennett] that I can take the next step,” Arrow told NRL.com.
“I'm going to need to get used to playing with men because I haven't played any Intrust Super Cup.
“I'll need to work on my physicality and defensive skills with the step up to this higher level.
“I'm really enjoying having people I grew up watching around me. Having guys like Sam Thaiday and Parker around is pretty special and I'm really relishing it.”
