Despite having a nightmare evening against the Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland fullback Lachlan Coote praised debutant Kalyn Ponga who is set for a bidding war between the Cowboys and other suitors.

“[Ponga] held his own, for a big game to be thrown in like that he did better than good,” Coote told nrl.com.

“There are always players coming up through the ranks and I was the same when I was coming into my debut. I had Rhys Wesser in front of me and I was the young guy. That’s part of footy.

“There’s always the thing in the back of your head going, ‘this young guy is coming for my spot’, but I’m not worried. I’m proud of him.

“His footwork is unreal. I didn’t know where he was going [on his first-half line break]. I obviously got in his way a bit, but I didn’t know where to go when he was stepping around like that.”