The Tigers are boasting a bunch of kids out there and clearly aren't finals contenders. They're in the middle of a rebuild, but that doesn't mean they won't be fighting and clawing for every possible win.

"A couple of weeks ago [people were saying] we were going backwards," coach Benji Marshall says.

"You don't throw kids out there if you don't think they're ready. ... Kids bring energy and they bring confidence.

"We still want to win now and we still can now."

Marshall says he's known for months that Luke Laulilii was ready to play NRL, but he just wasn't old enough.

"He turned 18 last Thursday and it was tempting to play him last week."

And while Laulilii was told this morning that he was playing, Adam Doueihi was told yesterday.

Marshall says he double-checked after naming him to make sure the club was doing the right thing by the oft-injured utility, but Doueihi had no doubt.

"He's been harassing me for three weeks," Marshall says.