THE NRL’s oldest rivalry will be lit up by one of its brightest young stars, with 18-year-old prodigy Jackson Hastings to make his debut before a huge final round crowd at Allianz Stadium.

With the minor premiership and inner-city bragging rights at stake, Roosters coach Trent Robinson has shown great faith in the son of club great Kevin Hastings to handle the biggest occasion of the regular season.

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While he was not named in the 17 on Tuesday, Hastings will start from the bench in place of Heath L’Estrange, who has been struggling with a knee injury.

media_camera Jackson Hastings is the son of Roosters great Kevin Hastings.

The former Australian Schoolboy gets his opportunity because of an horrific scare for Jake Friend last weekend.

The regular hooker was rushed to Prince of Wales hospital with extreme breathing difficulty after his lungs filled with two litres of blood.

Friend was discharged yesterday, and club officials are growing more confident that he will recover in time to play finals football.

But for Thursday night at least the hooking duties will be shared between new No. 9 Mitchell Aubusson and Hastings.

The Illawarra junior signed with the Roosters last year after a spirited contractual battle involving the Dragons, Knights and Cowboys.

His father Kevin retired in 1987 with 228 appearances for the Tri-Colours — a club record at the time.

Thanks to that legacy, Hastings grew up supporting the Roosters but was developed through the Dragons system because he was raised with his mum on the south coast.

His playmaking talents were so immense that he graduated to Holden Cup as a 16-year-old.

media_camera Kevin Hastings played his entire career with the Eastern Suburbs rugby league club.

Hastings has played the majority of his football in the halves, so Thursday night’s NRL debut at hooker will represent an even steeper challenge.

The Roosters had expected to blood him earlier in the year, with Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney the incumbent NSW Origin halves combination at the start of the season.

But their axing from the Blues left Hastings to bide his time in Holden Cup, where he’s made 13 appearances at halfback this year.

He’s also suffered a broken wrist, and since coming back has been elevated to open-age grade for NSW Cup feeder club Newtown.

In a sure-fire sign of Robinson’s willingness to test him in first grade, Hastings played two games for the Jets last month.

When L’Estrange suffered his injury, Hastings was then elevated to 18th man for the round 24 clash against the warriors in Auckland.

Friend, however, made a shock return from a hamstring injury, stretching his vigil for higher honours another two weeks.