To whet the appetite ahead of the 2018 Rugby League season, NSWRL.com.au looks at some of the up-and-coming male and female stars who will hope to represent NSW. Today, we look at one of the quickest and most exciting men in Rugby League: Jai Field.
Jai Field is already on the radar of most NRL fans having dominated the 2017 Auckland Nines, and then making his debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons a few months later. He was then selected for the NSW Under-20s Origin side, where he blew Queensland away with a long-range try to help his side win for the sixth consecutive time.
Field has taken it upon himself to prepare his body for the NRL this year, bulking up from 72kg at the start of last season to a current weight of 85kg. With Josh Dugan and Taane Milne having left the club, there are centre spots up for grabs – and Field is ready to swoop on an opportunity.
Field had a big year all-round in 2017, perhaps his biggest so far, and he ended the season strongly with Illawarra in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW. He created something out of nothing – as he so often does – to win in the dying stage of an elimination final, in a try similar to his freakish effort at Suncorp Stadium for the under-20s.
Looking to 2018, Field has high hopes of donning the Red V at NRL level on more occasions. Keep an eye out for him to feature in plenty more highlight reels in the years ahead.
