THE ROOKIES WHO MAKE UP THE NRL-ERA RECORD 16 DEBUTANTS IN ROUND ONE
* Greg Eden (Brisbane) – Englishman who joined Brisbane last year, gets his chance with Jack Reed recovering from shoulder surgery.
* Elliot Whitehead (Canberra) – Back-rower who scored 11 tries and set up the same number for Catalans in Super League last year.
* Adam Elliott (Canterbury) – With David Klemmer suspended, this no-fuss back-rower will start off the Bulldogs bench.
* Nathan Davis (Gold Coast) – Beat fellow youngster Brian Kelly to replace injured Nene MacDonald in the centres for round one.
* Leivaha Pulu (Gold Coast) – Has one week to impress off the bench before the return of prop Luke Douglas from suspension.
* David Bhana (Newcastle) – Former Warriors under-20s skipper who is one of four debutants named by Nathan Brown.
* Jaelen Feeney (Newcastle) – Has never played senior football at fullback but is charged with taking Kurt Gidley’s No.1 jersey.
* Pat Mata’utia (Newcastle) – The youngest of the four Mata’utia brothers will have first crack in the centres for the Knights.
* Jacob Saifiti (Newcastle) – Could become the first twin to debut with his brother since 1908 if Daniel is called up from an extended bench.
* Cody Walker (South Sydney) – Gets the chance to leapfrog the suspended Luke Keary into a halves spot with an impressive performance.
* Zane Musgrove (South Sydney) – Under-20s centre who will come off the bench for the Rabbitohs after they dropped Kirisome Auva’a from their 17.
* Vincent Leuluai (Sydney Roosters) – Second-rower who averaged 125 metres a game in the Holden Cup last year – will come off the bench in round one.
* Latrell Mitchell (Sydney Roosters) – High-profile rookie will start on the wing for the Roosters, but could shift to fullback if the Blake Ferguson experiment fails.
* Jayden Nikorima (Sydney Roosters) – A certain 2016 debut in the halves has been pushed forward thanks to Mitchell Pearce’s misdemeanours.
* Josh Aloiai (Wests Tigers) – Junior Kiwi representative forward who has one week to impress off the bench before Dene Halatau returns from suspension.
* Nathaniel Roache (Warriors) – Dummy-half who earns a surprise bench spot despite Issac Luke traditionally being an 80-minute hooker.
* Rookies Tyrone McCarthy (St George Illawarra) Daniel Saifiti (Newcastle), Joe Burgess and Mitchell Frei (both Sydney Roosters) have also been named on extended benches.
** The 16 rookies mark the most since 27 debutants turned out in the first week of the Super League and ARL competitions in 1997.