Dylan Egan is the toast of St George Illawarra after the Gerringong forward made a barnstorming NRL debut in Saturday’s upset win over competition favourites Melbourne.

Egan came off the bench at Kogarah and played 49 quality minutes, making several strong runs and pulling off some powerful hits on his Storm opponents.

He made four tackle breaks and got through 34 tackles in a performance which caught the eye of co-captain Damien Cook.

The former Illawarra Steelers SG Ball Cup captain was not the only Gerringong product on the field with teammate Hamish Stewart also playing strongly in just his third NRL game while Tyran Wishart started at halfback for Melbourne.

"I was excited to watch him debut, just seeing how hard he works at training," Cook said.

"I didn't know anything about him before getting to the Dragons (this season).

“But he's an effort-based player, all the boys love him in the team as well and he never lets anyone down.

"And that's one of the best debuts I've seen from a young guy, too. He came in against a quality side in Melbourne. In the end, getting that penalty was definitely a big reason why we could close it out."

St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan was equally impressed with the 20-year-old second-rower.

"He is going to have a long future in the NRL, he trains so hard, he knows his footy, he moves well. His determination and attitude is top shelf, so a long career for Dylan Egan," he said.

Egan was swamped by a huge group of family and friends when he walked over to the Kogarah hill after the game with many of them wearing T-shirts adorned with his name and photos to celebrate the occasion.