Broncos rookie Patrick Carrigan, 21, wasn't even out of primary school when Waerea-Hargreaves debuted in the NRL in 2009.

Teammates Payne Haas (19), David Fifita (19) and Tom Flegler (20) are even younger than Carrigan and face a big test of their first grade credentials against the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium on Friday.

"They're last year's premiers for a reason," Carrigan said.

"I'm really excited, it's a good test for us. Siosiua (Taukeiaho) and Hargreaves, those sort of boys, have been playing really good footy.

"If we don't match it through the middle then we're not going to be in the game.

"I enjoyed watching Hargreaves growing up ... sometimes you pinch yourself but once we're out there, it's in the heat of the moment, there's no taking a backward step."

Carrigan was 18th man when the Roosters belted the Broncos 36-4 at the SCG in round four.

Since then he's made four appearances off the bench with last weekend's 26-10 win over Manly the first victory of his NRL career.

Carrigan is confident the Broncos are a better team than they were when they faced the Roosters in April.

"It wasn't the best result for us as a team but I think we've come a long way since then," he said.

"We're in round 10 now and we're building towards something at the back end of the year and I've got all the faith in the lads that we can come up the goods on Friday night."

Australian Associated Press