As pre-season is well and truly underway, Newcastle Knights new recruit Tom Jenkins is eyeing the vacant wing spot left by international speedster Dominic Young.
In a three-way battle with Enari Tuala and Krystian Mapapalangi, Jenkins knows there is plenty of competition for the vacant wing position.
However, whoever takes the spot will have a big hole to fill. Young scored an impressive 25 tries in 25 games for the Knights last season as they made the NRL finals.
Jenkins joins from the Penrith Panthers where he scored five tries from five NRL games and scored 14 more four-pointers in the NSW Cup.
“(The wing spot) is definitely a carrot, but there's so much competition here,” Jenkins told NCA Newswire.
“You've got boys like Enari and ‘Maps', so there's a high level of competition and I love that, and I know the other boys do as well.
“I'm not coming here saying ‘that spot's mine' because nothing's yours until you earn it.
“We're all keen to earn it and that's going to push us to be better.
“It all comes down to reliability, and if you're going to get that 50-50 shot of scoring a try, I like to think that I can do it more times than not, and that's a big focus playing on the wing.
“You're usually the last one that's going to touch it when scoring in the corner situation, so I hope that bringing (my skills) into it is a big part.
“There are so many other things like yardage carries, being good defensively and helping out your mates, and that's a big part of (winning the wing spot).”
Now in a new team's jersey, the outside back compared his current pre-season with the Knights to that of the Penrith Panthers.
This came after he admitted that a massive reason to him joining the club was to play alongside Dally M winner Kalyn Ponga, veteran Origin star Dane Gagai and a world-class forward pack.
“The last 10 games shows the type of club it is and where the club's headed and the direction (they're going in),” he added.
“I couldn't wait to be a part of that kind of thing.
“For me and my family, I think this was the best option, for sure.
“It's clear that something special is building, and I'm so keen to be a part of that.”
