Hunger and perseverance finally have their reward for Marschke

New Dragons hooker Jesse Marschke has waited a decade to become an overnight sensation, with coach Shane Flanagan praising his perseverance and positive attitude as his long awaited NRL debut beckons.

Marschke, who will be 27 in June, has come into the Dragons squad in the absence of Jacob Liddle with concussion, with Flanagan having no qualms about throwing him straight into the starting side.

"If you are going to make your debut, especially in that position at hooker then it’s nice to start and get out and get into it straight away, rather than sitting back and waiting for your opportunity, wondering when is it going to come," Flanagan said on Friday.

"Connor [Muhleisen] has done a good job for us the last couple of weeks coming off the bench and tidying up the back end of the game, especially in round one, last week he was just thrown out in the washing machine when they were on top.

"Jesse’s job is to get us off to a good start and hopefully this is the start of his NRL career.

"It has been 10 years, he signed with the Roosters in 2015, and he could have given it away quite a few times, but his perseverance and attitude and hunger and desire to play NRL has been continual.

"He had a really good year last year at Norths and I’m looking forward to this being the start of his NRL career."

Marschke played all 27 games for North Sydney last year in their run to the NSW Cup decider and rounded out the season by being named at five-eighth in the team of the year.

"I watched a bit of him last season in NSW Cup and he had a really good year, he played at half and hooker, and I obviously watched him in the grand final and he had a cracker," Flanagan said.

"He has been around for a while and I have known of his skills and he has fitted in really well since he arrived here. I’m looking forward to seeing him play."

With 73 NSW Cup games to his name since 2018, Marschke has well and truly and served his apprenticeship and will be keen to make every post a winner as the Red V look to rebound from a horror loss to the Dolphins.

If he can nail down a regular spot in Flanagan's 17 he may well find himself locking horns with the likes of Siosifa Talakai, Emre Guler and Keaon Koloamatangi, his contemporaries from the 2015 SG Ball Cup when he was running around in red, white and blue.

Two years later he was teaming up with the likes of Victor Radley, Sean O'Sullivan, Sitili Tupouniua and Josh Curan in the NYC competition, ripping in and dreaming of an NRL debut that finally comes his way at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday.