Matt Gidley's lavish praise for teenager Bradman Best: "He's already better than me"

But in a stunning accolade from the former NSW Blues and Kangaroos centre, Matt Gidley says Knights' teenage sensation Bradman Best is already a better player than he was despite playing just 16 NRL games.

After watching Best's matchwinning performance in the Knights' 20-16 win over the Warriors last Friday night, Gidley said: "He can do things out there I could never do.

"He's already a matchwinner. Without Bradman the other night, we don't win that game. Pure and simple."

Gidley, whose star-studded career included playing 221 games for the Knights, 122 for St Helens, 17 for the Kangaroos and 11 Origin games for NSW over 15 seasons, admits he is in awe of Best's skill level.

"What a talent he is," Gidley said. "I don't know the kid really at all but I've seen him play since he's come into first grade and saw his talents in the junior ranks when I was still at the club .

"To be able to come into the NRL team and have the influence on the games he's had, and it's not just the other night, he's obviously someone very, very special."

Best had a major hand in winger Hymel Hunt's two tries, the first coming from a "Gidley flick", a pass the former Knights centre created, perfected and made famous during his career.

"Yeah, a few of the boys [ex-teammates] messaged me after his flick pass for Hymel's first try," Gidley said.

"Bradman's obviously a big, strong, powerful kid and a dynamic ball-runner but he's also got those subtle skills as well and it's pretty rare a player has both those things.

"If you look back, you generally find guys who were either gifted with one or the other. But he's someone with both.

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"He can break tackles and break the line but then to be able to show those nice little, subtle, soft skills with the footy demonstrates a young guy who has worked tremendously hard on his game to be able to deliver those sorts of passes in the pressure moments."

Asked if Best had the potential to become an even better player than himself, Gidley responded modestly: "I think he's probably already better than me to be honest which is a good thing.

"Because I played in the halves as a kid, I ended up being more of a ball-playing centre rather than a power player and in Bradman, you've got both. He can certainly do a lot of things that I couldn't do, put it that way.

"And he showed those skills against the Warriors. Not just the flick pass for Hymel's first try but even the second try, to make the bust firstly but then the timing of the pass - to hold it back the way he did to give Hymel the time to get there, that was right from the top shelf that.

"We all know he can break tackles almost whenever he wants to but those two off-loads, you just shake your head at how special they were.

"It's a good sign when a player like Bradman comes along too. It means we are developing our boys the right way. He's signed for a good while now and if we can keep him long term, players like him are going to make us more successful and help us win more premierships. Hopefully, there are a few more like him in our junior ranks ready to come through."

Best's attack wasn't the only area of his game against the Warriors to win praise.

After some shaky moments in defence in the opening round win over the Bulldogs, Knights coach Adam O'Brien spent plenty of time with the 19-year-old last week looking at video of what he could have done better.

It was no surprise to the coaching staff he responded in a positive fashion with a solid defensive performance alongside Hunt on the left edge against the Warriors .

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