Canterbury playmaker Matt Frawley's match-winning efforts in his first two NRL games have drawn praise from star back-rower Josh Jackson while bench forward Adam Elliot says he is at least as proud of his close mate's debut as he was of his own.
Frawley's composed kicking game made a massive difference in a morale-boosting win over Brisbane in the former Raiders NYC star's debut a fortnight ago before a try-scoring starring role off the bench against the Knights last week.
Frawley has lived with Elliot since his shift to Belmore two and a half years ago until Elliot recently moved out with his partner and the Bega-born back-rower had plenty of praise for Frawley.
"Me and Frawls, we were roommates for two and a half years as soon as he came up to the Bulldogs so we lived together for a while and we're best mates now," Elliott said.
"I couldn't have been prouder of him [when he debuted]. Obviously I was very proud when I made my debut but I think when he got his chance, he's worked so hard to get his chance, a couple of times been told he's probably not good enough.
"He got his crack here and just showed people he is someone to look forward to in the future."
Jackson praised Frawley for bringing some much-needed composure to the team's playmaking stocks.
"He's just a really calm, composed guy," Jackson said.
"He's very confident… he's got a really good kicking game and brings that calmness I guess to the team. For a guy who's just stepped into first grade he's very impressive."
Frawley's kicking game was arguably the difference in a tight 10-7 win over Brisbane, kicking for over 400 metres, forcing a couple of drop-outs and only being denied as many as three try assists from kicks because teammates were either offside of fumbled a put-down.
He finds himself named outside the 17 this week by coach Des Hasler but is expected to force his way into the game-day 17 after consecutive strong performances when the Bulldogs host old rivals Souths Sydney on Good Friday at ANZ Stadium.
