His goal was to make his NRL debut and fill the void when injuries struck but young forward Morgan Boyle got much more then that in 2017.
Boyle made his NRL debut in Round 6 of this year against the Canberra Raiders and went on to make 15 appearances at the top level, impressing enough along the way to take out the 'Rookie of the Year' award at the Presentation Night.
"I thought I'd play five max and was hoping to get at least one game this year," Boyle said. "Obviously with the injury toll it opened the door and i got to play a lot more.
"I definitely trained my hardest in the pre-season but I still had that little bit of doubt if I was ready. Everyone around has helped."
The 21-year-old has been renowned for his fitness and will look to return for 2018 with a similar focus.
"I'll look to come back at around 111kg and then hope to put on a few more kilos in the pre-season."
The Cobargo junior spent time in the middle and on the edge this year but sees himself in and around the big men in the future.
"I probably feel more comfortable in the middle but I'll hopefully still train a little on the edge. It'll give me a bit of versatility."
Boyle's 2017 stats:
| Name | Morgan Boyle |
| Games | 15 |
| Tries | 0 |
| Runs (avg) | 10 |
| Runs (total) | 150 |
| Run Metres (avg) | 96.5 |
| Run Metres (total) | 1447 |
| Offloads (avg) | 0.1 |
| Offloads (total) | 1 |
| Tackles (avg) | 24.7 |
| Tackles (total) | 371 |
