We will only find out in the fullness of time, but The Wire’s incoming front-rower certainly showed some promising signs against some of the world’s best players on Sunday.
Before heading to England, Prest is part of the Fiji squad for the Rugby League World Cup, with his selection coming off the back of a strong season with Mackay Cutters which saw him named as the Queensland Cup’s Prop of the Year.
He was named in the starting front-row for the second game in a row as the Bati faced hosts and defending champions Australia and played his part in a superb performance from the underdogs which saw them twice take the lead before losing 36-22 in Brisbane.
How Warrington Wolves new boy fared against Australia
In total, Prest spent 53 minutes on the field – a 32-minute opening stint followed by a shorter, 19-minute run-out in the second half.
In that time, he ran for 110 metres from 13 carries – of his teammates, only wingers Semi Valemi (136m) and Sunia Turuva (131m) and loose forward Caleb Navale (134m) made more ground with the ball.
Furthermore, the 41 metres he made post-contact was bettered only by Navale (49m) and Australia centre Bradman Best (44m) of all the players who turned out at Suncorp Stadium.
Off the ball, he made 27 tackles with two misses but he did concede two penalties, one of which could see him in disciplinary trouble for a high shot on Kangaroos prop Lindsay Collins.
Prest has already had a warning from the tournament’s judiciary panel for a similar incident during Fiji’s win over Cook Islands last week and if this incident is picked up, he will likely be forced to sit out the final pool-stage match against New Zealand through suspension.
In general, though, Wire fans will no doubt feel encouraged by what they saw from one of their two new middle-unit signings for 2027 while up against established NRL players.