The 19-year-old halfback was given the tap on the shoulder for Saturday's do-or-die away clash with Canberra, after Latu Fainu was slugged with a three-game ban for dangerous contact by the NRL judiciary on Tuesday.
Likely starting from Fainu's place on the bench after the judiciary cleared Adam Douehi to play, the youngster has already worked his way into the hearts of club diehards with a stellar NSW Cup season with the Western Suburbs Magpies.
Eight counts clear of second place on the competition's leaderboard for try assists (23), he also leads on line break assists (25) and ranks fourth for points (112) with 46 goals slotted.
With PNG recruit Jarome Luai being released early to join Parramatta and Fainu stuck in the naughty corner, Marshall was quietly upbeat about Andrews' first-grade prospects.
"He's obviously done some good stuff at Cup level and we like the way he plays," he told reporters on Thursday.
"We got plans, we're just keeping them to ourselves.
"He can do both (five-eighth and halfback). He just plays footy a bit nonchalant, he just plays what he sees and that's what we like."
Marshall alluded to a horrific injury the halfback suffered as a junior, which almost doomed his rugby league career.
"He was here at the junior levels and then he broke his neck," the Tigers coach said.
Andrews was tackled head-first into a goalpost during a representative game in 2021, fracturing two vertebrae, and it was more than two years before he next graced a footy field.
He is now firmly in the frame as someone who could breathe new life into the embattled Tigers outfit, as Luai's departure sees Marshall pivot towards elevating young talent.
"I just make decisions week to week based on what I think we need to win," the hesitant coach said when asked about Andrews' future on Thursday.
"Our recruitment identified that he was someone who we liked, and we just sat down and met him and he was keen to come.
"There's no pressure on him ... we wanted him to - when he gets his opportunity - just play."
A loss on Saturday will almost certainly spell the definitive end of the 14th-placed Tigers' faint finals hopes for 2026.
Their dismal 32-0 defeat to Canterbury in round 20 was their fifth-straight loss and takes their record to 3-11 since Luai announced his move to the Chiefs in 2028.
They travel to Canberra to square off against a 12th-placed Raiders side confident after a 34-24 victory over South Sydney - their third win in four games - and on the warpath for a top-eight berth of their own.
