UNHERALDED Manly three-quarter Shane Neumann has vowed to repay the Sea Eagles faith in him by putting pressure on the club's first choice centre pairing throughout 2008.
The young Queenslander made his first grade debut last year and impressed officials enough to secure a new three-year deal with the club. It says a lot about the potential of the exciting 20-year-old with the club already boasting representative centres Steven Bell, Steve Matai and Jamie Lyon.
But young Neumann's fantastic summer of training has impressed many and could see him put pressure on the club's more high profile centres.
Manly coach Des Hasler believes Neumann has a big future at the Sea Eagles.
"He's shown enough in his first year, now it's a matter of working hard and seeing where he can go from there," the Sea Eagles boss said yesterday.
"He was playing in the 20s' competition last year and he came up and had a handful of games in first grade. He's in the full-time squad now, he's had another strong off-season and we think he has some potential."
The addition of former New Zealand international David Vaeliki in the off-season makes competition for places even greater but Neumann is determined to add to his three first grade games. "I've had a few games and once that's the case you want to play more," he said.
"Now we've got Vaeliki in the team it's another bit of a challenge to step up to and it will be tough.
"But it's good that the club are showing a bit of faith in me. Now I've just got to bide my time there and play my best in Premier League.
"If I have a good season this year then hopefully I'll be able to get a few more games again, I'd be happy with that."
Neumann originally made the journey down to Sydney on a one-year deal and spent most of last season playing in Manly's Jersey Flegg squad. But the youngster was a surprise selection in the Sea Eagles round 10 win over Brisbane at Brookvale Oval where he debuted strongly.
He will press for a first grade spot in Manly's opening trial match against premiers Melbourne at Bluetongue Stadium on February 15.
