AFTER debuting in 2005 - 11 years ago now – I’ve seen a lot of young kids coming into grade, plenty of whom that have copped the anticipation and pressure that comes with being the next big thing.

Often there’s so much pressure on these kids that when they get there we’re not actually looking at what they’re doing. We’re looking for what they should be doing or who they should be playing like.

I’ve seen it first hand with Matt Moylan. Here’s a player with a unique skill set, who is so talented in what he does at fullback – he’s been compared to Darren Lockyer. Repeatedly.

Lockyer to me is one of the greatest players of all time. He’s probably in the top five players we’ll ever see play the game of rugby league.

For Moylan to be compared to Lockyer at such a young age takes away from what we are witnessing from Matt right now.

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Instead of crediting Matt for his work, people are saying ‘Darren Lockyer used to do that’.

We should enjoy the talents on show now and invest in these guys rather than place lofty expectations of living up to the hype of a past legend.

To say ‘Moylan reminds me of Lockyer’ is one thing. To label him ‘the next Darren Lockyer’ is another, and utterly unfair.

There is no need for it. There will be no next Darren Lockyer. He will be an Immortal.

By branding Moylan as the next Lockyer, you’re essentially saying Moylan will also be an Immortal. That’s a huge amount of pressure to place on a guy who has played 50 games.

When Luke Brooks debuted at the end of 2014 he was being branded ‘the next Andrew Johns’ after just one game. Joey was doing things which changed the game.

I’ve watched Brooks since he debuted and I have no doubt he’s going to have a long and successful career, but he’s still learning.

The media, the fans and commentators need to realise what they are doing by labelling someone ‘the next’ something.

Kids coming into first grade are still learning to direct a team around; they don’t need that pressure for the sake of a sound bite or an article for them to fast track their maturity as an NRL player.

All they should have to focus on is getting used to being in the fulltime system, learning what it means to be a first grader and how to get the best out of their bodies.

Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks has been unfairly slapped with the ‘next Andrew Johns’ tag. Source: News Corp Australia

I can compare it to basketball. At the moment Golden State point guard Stephen Curry is changing the NBA by shooting three points from 40-feet.

The next kid who comes in and shoots from 40-feet will be inevitably branded ‘the next Curry’. But Curry does more than that.

Benji does more than a side-step, Joey does more than a banana kick and Curry does more than shoot three pointers from anywhere.

Take Jordan Rankin. He came into first grade at 16. He failed to live up to the incredible hype around him.

And he needed to leave the NRL and spend two years in England with Hull FC to get away from the spotlight so he could rebuild his confidence.

Now he’s come back as a mature man he’s shown he’s capable of carving out a career for himself in the NRL.

Jordan Rankin is back in the NRL after being crushed by early expectation. Source: Getty Images

Te Maire Martin is another player I’m witnessing first hand.

In 2005 Benji Marshall won a competition with Wests Tigers. That was the same year I made my NRL debut. I remember watching Benji, who is younger than me, thinking ‘this guy is unbelievable’.

He changed the game. His side step was beyond belief. He was stepping blokes all over the place and could do so without any pressure on him.

No one had seen anything like him before so he didn’t have the pressure of being compared to someone in his rookie year. He was one of a kind.

Te Maire is a fantastic talent with a bright future ahead of him, but there is no reason to call him the next Benji Marshall.

From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t actually play like Benji at all. The likeness ends at the fact they are both products of Keebra Park, are both New Zealanders and both spent time at Wests Tigers.

Panthers playmaker Te Maire Martin - not the next Benji Marshall. Source: News Corp Australia

He has similar tendencies in the way that he runs the ball but he doesn’t have that side step which Benji was synonymous for. Te Marie has his own style. He takes the ball to the line.

He’s three games in and we’ve already heard he’s the next Benji.

I wasn’t compared to anyone but I can still speak from my own experience.

I don’t see why we have to put that pressure on these kids.

We need to give these kids a chance to let them carve their own name. If we do that you’ll see the qualities they have. They’ll be comfortable being themselves.

If we stop comparing them to someone else you’ll see them more open and relaxed towards the media because they don’t have to live up to the hype.

We can’t ask these kids to be like these legends – all they need to do is be themselves.

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