Jarryd Hayne's replacement at fullback, Tom Humble, has big shoes to fill but the Eels know it takes a lot to rattle their latest NRL rookie - on the field at least.

Making his debut at five-eighth against Manly on Monday night, the 21-year-old played on courageously while dazed by a bell-ringer from hard man Steve Matai as his official 'welcome to first grade'.

Raised in the Queensland town of Blackwater, the North Queensland recruit is enjoying his new life in the big city, but that's not to say he hasn't found it a challenge.

His trips to pick up bread at the Parramatta shops sound even more harrowing than his first grade debut.

Sydney has not only introduced Humble to the battles of traffic and parking spots, it's also presented him with the peak-hour pressure of assuming Hayne's No.1 jersey at the Eels - a huge ask for the bushie who rides his push bike to training every day.

But while the crowds of people at the local mall might prove overwhelming, he's not stressing about filling in for one of the game's best players against Cronulla at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night.

"I see that as a challenge, I'm not intimidated by it," Humble said.

"There's definitely no expectation on me to perform like Haynesy, all I can do is play my own game and make sure I don't let the team down."

Matai's first half high shot last week resulted in the Sea Eagles centre being charged with a grade five offence and contributed to his three-match suspension - and at the time it acted as a brutal initiation for Humble who didn't know where he was for at least 10 minutes.

However, it was during this period in Disneyland that Humble proved to himself, his team-mates and his coach that he's made of the right stuff.

The 84kg minnow continued to make tackles and bravely soldiered on.

"I've had a few bad head knocks, but that'd be up there, definitely," said Humble, who if not for a desperate tackle from Jamie Lyon in the second half, would have scored a miraculous try in the corner on debut.

"I had a head knock and it probably would have been easier to crawl into my shell and go a bit quiet, but I kept my head up and kept making tackles and I didn't miss any while I was a bit sick.

"That's what I'm pretty much proud of myself for keeping on going, I could have easily gave up and got a little bit intimidated, but I kept going."

Eels coach Daniel Anderson said he brought Humble to Parramatta as cover for Hayne through the representative period.

Humble enjoyed his time at the Cowboys, but was looking for a change of scenery to kick-start his career.

He has received that at Parramatta and now he's desperate to prove he's more than Hayne's stunt-double.

"Nobody wants to just be a back up player," he said.

"I want to earn my spot in the 17. I've played a game and I'm even hungrier."

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