From the start of his first pre-season in charge, Tigers coach Benji Marshall maintained he would pick the players who demanded selection regardless of age or reputation.
It's the kind of thing new coaches say to show they mean business. It makes for good copy during the long summer as we scratch around for any rugby league news that's fit to print.
But for Marshall it wasn't just words. He's really doing it, starting with 18-year old Lachlan Galvin being named at five-eighth for the Tigers in their season opener against Canberra this weekend.
Nobody would have blinked twice if Marshall had gone with the experienced Aidan Sezer. The Tigers have a bevy of talented young halves. Marshall played a big role in bringing Sezer to the club to act as a steady hand who can act as a bridge to the future.
Sezer would have been the safe play but Marshall has never, ever been afraid of taking a chance and it's fitting that the new coach, who was the defining prodigy of the club's history as a player, will take a chance on a youngster in his first game in charge.
"One thing I made clear with the squad at the start of pre-season was it doesn't matter who you are or how old you are, if you earn the opportunity, you'll get it," Marshall said.
"Lachie and Solomona [Faataape] have earned the opportunity. They put a lot of pressure on me for selection, and that's what I thought was best for the team.
"Lachie is one of those guys who just plays footy, he plays what he sees, he's not overawed by situations. There's no fear in what he does.
"We're looking forward to seeing him play. He's a big kid, and he's also a really good kid, that's what we love about him the most."
Given he was playing second row in the club's under 17s team just two years ago and only began training with the top tier over the summer, Galvin's elevation is a surprise but it shouldn't be a shock.
Starting them young is the Wests Tigers way. Robbie Farah, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks and James Tedesco all debuted as teenagers. Chris Lawrence was a 17-year-old schoolboy when he pulled on the colours for the first time.
Tallyn da Silva, one of the club's new generation of prospects, played five NRL matches last season and is still young enough to play SG Ball (under 19s) this year.
But the ultimate phenom in the club's history is still Marshall himself.
He was barely 18 when he debuted back in 2003 and he retained enough of that youthful energy that even now, 21 years into the future and three seasons after retiring, he does not look like an old man as he trains alongside his charges or sound like one when he speaks to them.
For someone of Galvin's age, Marshall has an aura few other players or coaches could ever hope to match. His belief would give the younger man tremendous confidence.
However, confidence is something Galvin already has in spades. He was man of the match in last year's Schoolboy Cup final and captained the Australian Schoolboys.
His only experience playing against men came in this year's trials but he's excelled in the pre-season, particularly in the fitness stakes.
Story by ABC News