Piecing together the backline puzzle will be one of the top items on Griffin's agenda with a host of veterans and young bucks vying for spots come round one. Zac Lomax is a lock at right centre, while Matt Dufty can expect first crack at the No. 1 jumper he finally made his own last season. Beyond that, just about every position us up for grabs.

Big-money halves Corey Norman and Ben Hunt attracted fierce criticism in a forgettable 2020 for the club, with Norman dropped mid-season and Hunt shifted to hooker. There are still plenty who believe Hunt's best position is dummy-half, while Norman will have the fend off a challenge from Adam Clune and highly-touted youngster Jayden Sullivan to keep his spot.

Pereira is in a battle on the flanks with Mikaele Ravalawa and another young sensation in Cody Ramsey, while Max and Matt Feagai are in the centre-wing picture that also includes Brayden Wiliame.

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Throw in returning local junior Jack Bird, who's equally adept in the centres or the spine, and it becomes a trickier task for Griffin. Pereira says the whole squad is going about making sure it's a pleasant headache.

"There's not a club in the NRL that doesn't have competition for a jersey," Pereira said.

"Everyone in the top 30 is a quality player so you've always got to fight every single day to get a jersey. One thing I've really noticed about the young guys coming through is there confidence, they just believe in themselves like I never used to when I was that age.

"That's something really inspiring to me to be honest. Confidence is something I've always struggled with so to see young 18-19-year-old come in and just be 'yep, I've got this'.

"When I look at them and see how confident they are it makes me think 'why should I not be confident?'. I've played some NRL now and I've got what it takes so I need to believe in myself as much as someone who hasn't yet... but they will one day."

While he's impressed with the rookies' confidence, the 27-year-old late bloomer insists he won't be getting out their way en route to round one next season.

"When I look back on my season I am proud of what I produced but I know for a fact I can bring more," Pereira said.

"Some suspensions didn't help and I had a shocker against Newcastle [in round 19] which saw me get dropped. I didn't get to play in the final round which I was available for so I've got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder now.

"I consider it taken from me, it's not mine anymore, so I've got to work as hard as I can to earn that jersey back."

Wiliame is in the same boat having returned to the NRL last season after three years in the Super League. He claimed the left centre position but missed the bulk of the season after suffering a calf injury in round four. He'll now have a fight on his hands from the likes of Feagai and possibly Bird to fill the spot left vacant by the departure of Euan Aitken.

'The young boys are really good, they're stars of the future and I know that," Wiliame said.

"It's healthy competition, I don't take that stuff personally and they're really good kids as well. I think the Feagai boys and Cody Ramsey are the ones that'll come through the quickest, given two of them [Ramsey and Max Feagai] have already debuted.

"And you know with someone like Birdy, he's just a footy player, so wherever you put him he's going to shine. He just needs to get his body right and wherever he gets put he'll do the job plus more."