When halfback Trent Hodkinson left the field with a wrist injury midway through the first half against Newcastle on Saturday it was left to Moses Mbye to lead the way in the Bulldogs' 20-18 win over the Knights – something Dogs fullback Sam Perrett has full trust in him to do again if the situation arises.
With Hodkinson in doubt for the Bulldogs' clash against the Warriors next Sunday night, and fellow half Josh Reynolds still out injured, Mbye may have to make do with Josh Jackson alongside him in the halves next week.
However Perrett wasn't discouraged by the possibility and said it will do wonders for the 22-year-old's development if he were to lead the team against the Warriors in the final regular season game of 2015.
"Moses has been solid. He's always so reliable and consistent," Perrett told NRL.com.
"He's definitely a star of the future. He's already a star now. There was a bit of weight to take on his young shoulders with only one half out there but he did fantastic.
"All of these experiences are just going to be a benefit for him and our team. It's a big thing. He got the call-up last year for the grand final at hooker there so we already know he's definitely up to the challenge.
"He's got a head on his shoulders and he's very mature for his age. Moses leads us around perfectly. He keeps a cool head on those try assists.
"Hopefully we'll have at least one of [Hodkinson or Reynolds] back to run with him but if not, between Jacko filling in there and Moses, I think we can still do some decent damage."
In what could only be described as an intense semi-final-esque performance against the Knights, Perrett said his team would have gathered plenty of confidence out of their two-point win.
"Newcastle had a lot to play for. It was a milestone there with Gids and there was the Old Boys Day they were celebrating. We felt from the start, it definitely felt like the kind of game that is coming up surely so it was good for the confidence," Perrett said.
"The intensity was up. It was pretty hard to contain. They kept it going the whole game so it made it really intense. They were definitely coming in numbers really quick.
"We just had to hold them and we went all the way to the end and got the win."
Perrett also wasn't focused on earning a top four berth, with that being out of the Bulldogs' control.
"You can't focus on things you can't control," he said. "Some of those results are out of our hands. We'll just focus on what we can do and go from there."
This article first appeared on NRL.com