Unheralded forward Nick Slyney has bulked up considerably for his second crack in the NRL for Brisbane against Parramatta on Friday night.
The 23-year-old from the dairy township of Melanda on the Atherton Tablelands has packed 10kgs on his lanky 189cm frame since making his NRL debut for North Queensland against Wests Tigers in 2008 when he was 96kgs.
His extra size and some eye-catching form for Brisbane’s feeder club Redcliffe last season helped earn him an unexpected call-up on Thursday to replace interchange prop Scott Anderson, who injured his back in the gym on Wednesday.
Brisbane assistant coach Kristian Woolf says he’s impressed by the changes Slyney has made through diet and gym work since he saw him while working at the Cowboys a year ago.
With props Anderson, Dave Hala and Dunamis Lui all out of action, Slyney will play his sixth NRL game against the Eels and his first since Brisbane signed him to a two-year contract after impressing during the pre-season.
With his key assignment to provide heavy defence up the middle, Woolf and head coach Anthony Griffin will get to see how well he handles the charges of representative forwards Tim Mannah and Fuifui Moimoi.
“I didn’t coach Nick up there in ’08, but I had a bit to do with him in a development and progress into first grade,” said Woolf, whose Cowboys under-20s side almost caused a huge upset in last year’s NYC grand final
“At that stage he was a slightly-built country kid.
“When he turned up at the Broncos this year he was up to 99kgs and he’s managed to push that to 106kgs.
“He’s athletic, he’s a big tall guy, he’s got a bit of a pass on him, good feet and he can run some good lines.
“He’s got that good country work ethic and he brings a few things to the table.”
Woolf said Slyney’s defence was what would be needed most on Friday night.
“It’ll be physical so we’ll definitely see where he’s at.”
Griffin was confident Slyney would handle the occasion and do the job of backing up Sam Thaiday and Ben Hannant.
“He’s a big boy. The main thing we want from him is to block up the middle like Ando (Anderson) would have done and to get us forward,” he said.
