North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten believes young gun Tom Chester has the ability to become a "strike centre" for the club.
Chester has played most of his junior rugby league at fullback or in the halves, but has played both of his NRL games this season in the centres.
The first of those games came against the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 3, before he was called into the side to replace the injured Zac Laybutt against the Parramatta Eels on Saturday evening.
Despite falling short, Chester had a strong performance for the Cowboys replacing Laybutt, who will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
It was tipped Viliami Vailea may have been the player to come into the side for Laybutt, but Chester now has an open run on a spot in first grade for the remainder of the season, and coach Payten said he has been impressed with what he has seen from the centre in both appearances this year.
"It's his second game at NRL level in the centres, and he is only going to get better. He takes a tough carry and he is a tough kid" Payten said on Chester following Saturday's clash with the Parramatta Eels.
"He got an injection [on his shoulder] at halftime so he is going to be sore for a couple of weeks, but he is tough as nails, and he competes, and that's what we love about him."
Payten tipped Chester to continue improving in the coming weeks.
"Absolutely. I saw enough in the first game against St George, and like I said, he is only going to get better and better with more reps and consistency he gets with the guys around him," Payten added.
"He wants to get better, and it's well within possibility that he becomes a good strike centre for us."
Captain Reuben Cotter indicated Chester's energy both at training and on game day makes him an excellent teammate.
"I love the way he trains, I love the way he plays. He is a good bloke off the field and you throw him anywhere on the field and you know what you'll get from him. He'll rip in and I love him as a teammate," Cotter said.
