Jesse Marschke will get to add to his debut NRL outing sooner than expected after being named on the interchange bench for St George Illawarra Dragons' clash against Manly Sea Eagles at WIN Stadium this Saturday night.
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Marschke made his debut in the Dragons' last-start loss to North Queensland Cowboys.
The 26-year-old was brought into the team to cover the absence of Jacob Liddle, who was unavailable due to HIA protocols.
A fit-again Liddle has been named to return at hooker against Manly, with Dragons coach Shane Flanagan opting for Marschke instead of Connor Muhleisen as Liddle's back-up.
It's a sweet reward for Marschke, who has taken the long road to earning an NRL debut.
After all the hooker-half played more than 70 games in the NSW Cup before he made his NRL debut at the age of 26 in the Dragons last-start loss to the North Queensland Cowboys.
It wasn't the result Marschke or St George Illawarra wanted, but the young play-maker loved the experience of playing in the NRL.
"It's definitely a pretty surreal feeling," he said.
"I've definitely worked hard to get to where I am today and built a lot of resilience throughout the time.
"I'm just very grateful that the opportunity has popped up and I finally got to make my debut. The feeling is awesome."
A veteran of the NSW Cup, hooker-half Marschke was only added to the Dragons' roster in January hot on the heels of the Ronald Volkman saga that exposed a gaping hole in the club's spine stocks.
It proved a shrewd signing with Dragons coach Shane Flanagan bringing Marschke into the squad after Jacob Liddle was ruled out due to the concussion he suffered in St George Illawarra's round two loss to the Dolphins.
Marschke was just happy to get his chance in the big time and has resolved to try and play in as many first-grade games as possible.
"The NRL, it's very fast. I found the middle very fast. I knew it was gonna be, but it's obviously a different level and it took some adjusting, but I loved it," he said.
"It wasn't a great result but it was a good week.
"We knew what we had to do and go out there but in terms of attack we didn't get it done.
"But it was good still to be out there. I learned a lot, that's for sure."
Marschke also loved having more than 40 family and friends at Kogarah cheering him on last week.
"It was obviously good to have all the support out there. Seeing family and friends in the crowd cheering me on was great," he said.
"It's unfortunate we lost but it was great having everybody there to support me."
St George Illawarra play Manly at WIN Stadium on Saturday at 5.30pm.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
