{"id":327447,"date":"2023-08-31T12:59:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T12:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327447"},"modified":"2023-08-31T14:07:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T14:07:03","slug":"absolute-magician-wows-legends-with-insane-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327447","title":{"rendered":"'Absolute magician' wows legends with insane debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm<\/a> young gun Sua Fa'alogo has earned comparisons to Billy Slater<\/a> and Reece Walsh<\/a> after scoring a double in a stunning NRL debut performance.<\/p>\n

Fa'alogo took just minutes to cross over for his first try after being brought off the bench in the 34th minute and added a second after the break in a debut to remember.<\/p>\n

His first touch at the NRL was a scintillating linebreak before he had a one-two with Ryan Papenhuyzen<\/a> to score his first ever try, with the play leaving Queensland great Paul Vautin stunned.<\/p>\n

AS IT HAPPENED:<\/strong> Broncos fall short of minor premiership\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Papenhuyzen gives Bellamy 'wonderful headache' in win\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'You'll get weeded out': Big Willie rips 'soft' Dogs<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"I tell you what, it reminds a lot of the man sitting on the sideline in the commentary team … Billy Slater," Vautin exclaimed on Nine's coverage.<\/p>\n

"Reminds me of his debut game and the try he scored against the Cronulla Sharks. Wow!<\/p>\n

\"BRISBANE,<\/p>\n

"That got me out of my seat! Sua Fa'alogo, remember that name. I can't remember a first touch better by an NRL player … Sua Fa'alogo. Remember that name!"<\/p>\n

Slater, who sung Fa'alogo's praises prior to the match, compared the Storm youngster to rested Broncos star Reece Walsh.<\/p>\n

"He's very similar to Reece, easy to watch, so much brilliance in his game," he said on Nine's coverage.<\/p>\n

"He didn't let me down, did me? This was his first actual run of the football and he will remember this day for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n

"He's just a real good kid. I've worked with him down in Melbourne, he's a great lad and he's got a great energy to be as good as he can possibly be, so I'm really happy for him.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/NRLonNine\/status\/1697221678705807478<\/a><\/p>\n

"A great moment with Ryan Papenhuyzen, he's played a lot of footy with him in the last couple of weeks in the Queensland Cup, so to actually combine for that first try would've been a memorable occasion for him."<\/p>\n

Fa'alogo admitted he was caught by surprise when he learn\ufeffed he would be facing the Broncos.<\/p>\n

"I wasn't expecting it. I never thought I would get a chance to play here at Suncorp, and I'm just very grateful to be here," he said after the match.<\/p>\n

"Bells (Storm coach Craig Bellamy) just talked to me said to keep it simple and play to my strengths.<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

"When I was 13 I came straight from Samoa and never thought I'd get a run in the NRL. I played junior footy in Melbourne and got lucky to be here with the Storm."<\/p>\n

Papenhuyzen was also full of praise for his young teammate, describing him as an "absolute magician".<\/p>\n

"He's been doing it in the Queensland Cup for enough time now and he deserved his shot," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's just unfortunate, he's probably playing NRL week-in, week-out at another club, but he had to bide his time and that's what he gets the fruits for now.<\/p>\n

\"Papenhuyzen's<\/p>\n

"He's a special player, so keep an eye out for him."\ufeff<\/p>\n

Bellamy agreed with his star fullback after the game.<\/p>\n

"There were lots of time during the year where we wanted to give him a start and it probably wasn't the right time or the right game," the Storm coach said.<\/p>\n

"He got his opportunity, we know he's a brave little player, he's obviously quick, that's his strength, but he still needs to learn a few things about the game.<\/p>\n

"We're trying (to teach him) that as quickly as we can, but we all see the potential that he's got and I'm sure he's going to be a regular first grader in the not-too-distant future."\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm young gun Sua Fa'alogo has earned comparisons to Billy Slater and Reece Walsh after scoring a double in a stunning NRL debut performance. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327447"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327452,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327447\/revisions\/327452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/327444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}