Former Titan Greg Marzhew keen to deliver in tandem with Dominic Young as Newcastle Knights' strike wingers in 2023

In round 16 last year, playing for his old side Gold Coast, he watched Young and then fellow Knights winger Edrick Lee run riot as Newcastle scored a 38-12 win over the Titans at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Young netted a hat-trick down Marzhew's side while Lee set a new club record scoring five on the other.

It would be that game, and Young's performance, that popped into Marzhew's thoughts when his manager mentioned a potential move to Newcastle in November.

With Lee gone to the Dolphins, Marzhew was excited about the one-two punch he and Young could potentially provide on the flanks.

"My first thought was I'd love to be running out of the backfield with Dom Young," Marzhew told the Newcastle Herald, ahead of the season-opener against the Warriors on Friday night.

"Just punching after him or he can have a carry after me and getting our sets started together. You've always got to compete for your spot ... but that was my main goal, trying to get that spot and run off the back of Dom."

Young announced last week he would depart the Knights at season's end, and there is talk of an early exit, but if he remains at the club he and Marzhew shape as a lethal attacking duo in 2023.

Marzhew's try-scoring record is nearly on par with Young's. In 25 games for the Titans, the 25-year-old scored 15 tries. Young has 18 from 26 NRL appearances.

After playing in both trials, Marzhew looks set to start on left wing in New Zealand, but he isn't getting ahead of himself with Hymel Hunt also in the mix for selection.

The game in Wellington would be the second Marzhew has played in his home country, having concluded the 2022 season against the Warriors.

A South Auckland product, Marzhew's league journey began surprisingly late, and of all places, in Victoria.

"I moved to Melbourne with my uncle for two years and that was when I started footy properly," he said.

"I was 13, 14. On every corner there is an oval down there, it's all AFL. But I just gave [league] a go. My uncle asked if I wanted to do something after school, and I never looked back."

Marzhew, who went by his father's surname, Leleisiuao, before adopting his mother's prior to making his NRL debut in mid-2021, was part of Melbourne's inaugural Harold Matthews Cup (under-16s) team.

He briefly returned to New Zealand in his teens before moving to Brisbane, where he continued playing for Woodridge State High School, although it wasn't that serious.

"It wasn't a footy-oriented school, No one turned up to training, it was just to get out of class," he admitted.

Eventually, footy did become serious.

Marzhew played for Souths Logan in the Mal Meninga Cup, Queenland's under-18 competition. It earned him a start at the Titans for under-20s.

But a torn ACL delayed his development and he ended up at Parramatta, where he spent three years playing in the lower grades before returning to the Gold Coast.

An injury to Anthony Don opened the door for Marzhew to make his NRL debut in round 13, 2021, and the hulking Kiwi didn't waste his chance, crashing over the try-line after just 14 minutes.

It set the tone for what followed with the winger hard to leave out from that point on.

A monster in the gym, bench-pressing 190kg and dead-lifting 270kg, Marzhew's power is his greatest strength and he reckons there is no secret to his impressive tally of tries.

"Every winger is the same, just catch the ball and put it down," Marzhew, who has a son and daughter, said.

"That's what I stick to.

"There's not much work on the wing, all the middles do the hard work and then I get to score."

But Marzhew's skillset goes well beyond simply catching the ball and putting it down, with the Kiwi revealing a play-making past.

"I started my career as halfback, then went to fullback and then out to centre and wing," he said.

Opening up about his move to Newcastle, Marzhew said the trade deal with former Knights hooker Chris Randall came out of nowhere but quickly progressed.

"It started off as an idea and unfolded in a few days. It caught me off guard if I'm honest," he said.

"I didn't really take it too seriously when my manager tossed up the idea and then two days later, they hit me with the 'you're good to go'.

"They [the Titans] gave me my first opportunity and I'll always be grateful for that.

"But I think I'm at that stage where I can't be sitting behind people fighting for a position.

"I want to be somewhere I can put my best foot forward and be a regular first-grader.

"I saw that opportunity here and I think it will be best for my future and the future of my family."

A self-described "homebody", Marzhew is stoked with his move south and can't wait to represent Newcastle.

"It's a good quiet town, so I think it was made for me," he said.

"I'm a bit of a homebody, so I think it's a perfect fit.

"The boys have been hectic ever since I've moved here.

"Funny enough, this was the only [NRL] club that I didn't know anyone in the team.

"So it was a bit crazy moving down, but the first day here it was just open arms."

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