They might only have been teammates for a short while but Gold Coast’s Ryan Simpkins likes what he sees in rookie half Kane Elgey.

The 21-year-old playmaker will make his NRL debut in Saturday’s clash with Cronulla, a crucial match with both sides going in at 0-3 for the season so far.

Simpkins, a former Gold Coast youngster who is back at the Titans after two seasons with Penrith, said Elgey had made an instant impression on him through the pre-season.

A wrist injury to Daniel Mortimer has forced coach Neil Henry to throw Elgey into first grade earlier in the year than he would have liked, but Simpkins doesn’t think it’ll be a drama.

“I hadn’t seen much of him before this year, but I’ve been pretty impressed by how he’s handled himself in training,” Simpkins said.

“He’s been one of the standout players for Tweed in the first three weeks so I think he’s ready. He’ll step up.

“He’s a fairly instinctive sort of player. He’ll combine pretty well with Aidan (Sezer) there.

“If he just plays his natural game and does the same thing he’s been doing each week at Tweed, I think he’ll be fine.”

There’s no doubt in Simpkins’ mind that a physical Sharks pack will aim to target Elgey to try to rattle the reigning under-20 player of the year.

Simpkins said he and his fellow forwards would have to step up to protect their playmakers, especially with experienced Sharks skipper Paul Gallen leading the charge.

“On the weekend against the Knights, they tried to do a similar thing, tried to intimidate and be really physical which is pretty much exactly what Cronulla’s going to do as well,” he said.

“There’s no doubt we’ve got to take it to them as well. If we do that, I think we’ll give our halves the chance to put some points on.”