North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten has revealed that Daejarn Asi is the "first cab off the rank" behind the starting halves heading into the 2022 season.
Asi played a staring role for the Cowboys in their opening pre-season victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Cairns on Saturday evening.
In a youthful Cowboys side without many of their best 17, Asi was handed the captaincy and Payten said he was impressed by the way he stood up in the role when talking to the media after the contest.
"Daejarn had some quality moments too. He was our captain. It's probably not a natural role for him given his development and where he has come from," Payten said.
"He is a quiet kid by nature, but at different points in the game, I could see him really dominant with his talk, so I was pleased by that.
"I was hoping to see a response from him. That's part of the reason we gave it to him. He is an on-field general for us, and if you look at our first-grade halves who are playing next week, he is the next cab off the rank so he has had some first-grade experience and done himself no harm tonight."
Payten said he has "headaches" to resolve after Saturday's trial win, with the halves likely to be one of them. Chad Townsend and Tom Dearden have been earmarked as the likely options, however, concerns over their similarity has been expressed.
Scott Drinkwater and Daejaran Asi are both in the squad and would provide a point of difference on field for the Cowboys.
"It's always good to have headaches," Payten said.
"We have another game and more work to do. We didn't have 18 here today, we will take a few from today's squad into next week's game and probably have about 21, but there are still some positions up for grabs."
One of the players who will be taken into next weeks' game and is a chance for Round 1 is Griffin Neame.
Payten said he was impressive after starting at prop, running strongly each time he had the ball.
"I thought Griff (Griffin Neame) was head and shoulders above all of our forwards," Payten said.
"I challenged him before the game. I was only going to give him a 30-minute stint. I wanted him to be aggressive. He forced a turnover shooting out of the line and I wanted him to play fast. At the back end of his stint, his leg speed was still there.
"I'm really pleased for him and he will come into our squad for next week's trial against the Broncos."
The Cowboys will play the Broncos next weekend in their second trial, before opening the season against the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sunday, March 13.
