Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has named Canberra Raiders young gun Nick Cotric on the wing for the Prime Minister's XIII clash against Papua New Guinea at Port Moresby on October 6.
Cotric only narrowly missed out on playing State of Origin for NSW this year and was named 19th man for the series opener.
Now he's set to make his representative debut against PNG, with the chance to press his claims to be part of the Australian team in Tests against New Zealand and Tonga later in October.
Raiders winger Nick Cotric will play for the Prime Minister’s XIII.
The 19-year-old has seamlessly adapted to life in the NRL after making his debut in round one last year, scoring 28 tries in his 28 games so far.
He's also shown he's not just a fantastic finisher on the wing, but can cover fullback and in the centres when required as well.
Former Raiders premiership winger Ken Nagas backed Cotric to handle the next level, telling Fairfax Media the PM's XIII provided the perfect opportunity to "blood" the young flyer.
"I have no doubt he can handle it and I think it's time to bring those young guys through," Nagas said on the weekend.
"You see what [coach Brad Fittler] did with the NSW side, bringing young blokes through that actually care and want to play for one another.
"Bringing Nick through and younger blokes with that PM's team, I think it's a good way to blood blokes, especially at a representative level – give them a taste of what it's like at that level."
Cotric was the only Raiders players named.
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