KNIGHTS winger Hymel hunt is backing his centre partner, Tautau Moga, to rapidly improve after playing his first game in almost 11 months in last week's 10-4 loss to Parramatta at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Moga has endured a luckless run since joining the Knights from Brisbane at the end of 2017, appearing in only 11 of a possible 57 games.
But the towering Queenslander, whose career has been interrupted by four knee reconstructions, showed some promising signs against the Eels, racking up 143 metres in attack and 14 tackles, with only one miss.
Hunt had no doubt the 26-year-old would be better for the run and was ready to cause problems for South Sydney in Saturday's showdown at Bankwest Stadium.
"I thought he played unreal for his first game of footy since last year, pretty much," Hunt said.
"I thought he did a great job, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
"He's a very talented player, and I can't wait to see what he does this weekend.
"I'm very excited."
Hunt said he and Moga were "very close mates outside of footy" and was hopeful that would help their combination on Newcastle's right edge.
On Saturday, they are likely to face a reshuffled South Sydney left side, after injuries to Braidon Burns (knee) and Campbell Graham (facial fracture), and the suspension of Latrell Mitchell.
Jaxon Paulo is expected to debut on the left wing for the Rabbitohs, while ex-Knights utility back Dane Gagai and flyer James Roberts have been named in the centres.
A former Souths player, Hunt joked that he would call Gagai this week to check who he would be marking.
"I'm pretty sure they'll leave Jimmy Roberts on the right side, because that's his most favoured side, and maybe put Gags to the left," he said.
"But whoever plays left centre has got a big job in trying to defend Tau.
"We've just got to focus on ourselves, and whoever they put there, we've just got to do a job on them."
Moga feels just as secure lining up alongside Hunt, saying: "It's good to have the 'Dark Knight' out there on the wing."
Knights coach Adam O'Brien admitted it was a "pretty tough ask" for Moga to face Parramatta strike weapons Michael Jennings and Maika Sivo first up.
"I guess the speed of the game would have punched Tau in the face," O'Brien said.
"He hasn't played all year. He would have got a bit of a shock. He'll be better for the run, but he certainly didn't look out of place."
Moga came within inches of scoring twice against Parramatta, only to have the ball jolted from his grasp over the line on both occasions.
Hunt said he and Moga accepted the blame for Sivo's match-sealing try, after Eels skipper Clint Gutherson caught them napping with a quick tap.
"We definitely won't be doing that again ... this week if they try and do a quick tap, I guarantee we'll be back in our line, defending," he said.
AAP reports: South Sydney are excited to see what "freak" Jaxson Paulo brings in his NRL debut.
Standing 192cm and weighing 101kg, Paulo has impressed his teammates since arriving at Redfern from the Gold Coast midway through last year.
"Jaxson's a freak, that's all I can really say," second-rower Jaydn Su'A said on Wednesday.
"He's very tall, he's good under the high ball and he's got some pace, so I'm sure he will do his job really well this weekend.
"Hopefully we can get him into the game because the more he touches the ball the better for us."
Lock Cameron Murray had been similarly impressed by the junior Kiwi representative, who juggles rugby league with a double degree in business and design.
Murray hinted that while named on the wing, Paulo may instead replace Campbell Graham (face fracture) in the centres with Dane Gagai staying on the flank where he scored a hat-trick last week.
"Jax is a quality player and he's earned the right to debut," Murray said.
"Athletically he's really impressive and he's a bigger body too so he's a great replacement for Campbell Graham out there on the edge."
The Rabbitohs are sixth on the ladder after accounting for Wests Tigers last round but Murray felt they still had plenty of upside.
"I think we're building nicely but I don't think we're where we need to be," Murray said.
"But we're only almost halfway through the season so we've got a few more games to get things right.
"We just need to cut out errors and silly penalties."
