After a year and a half ruined by serious injury, emerging half Lachlan Croker feared his Canberra Raiders career could be in jeopardy.
But he gave a glimpse of why they showed faith by re-signing him with an eye-catching display in Canberra's 28-20 Auckland Nines win over St George Illawarra on Saturday.
His first hitout since shoulder surgery, the 20-year-old half scored a try and set up another in the second half to help the Raiders begin the competition on a winning note.
The Raiders are still a chance to reach the quarter finals despite a 26-15 loss to Gold Coast in their second game, and play unbeaten Cronulla in their final pool match on Sunday morning.
Croker described playing alongside his uncle, Raiders games and tries record holder Jason, as a "dream come true", with his father Dale watching on from the stands.
The Crookwell junior tore his anterior cruciate ligament playing for NSW under-18s in mid-2014, then broke his shoulder playing for Canberra's under 20s early last season.
He described the ordeal as "pretty upsetting" and admitted he was stressed whether the Raiders would re-sign him.
Canberra announced in November they had re-signed Croker until the end of 2017, which removed any pressure on the playmaker as he went through rehab.
"It definitely was [going through my mind], when it [shoulder] happened I had a year left on my contract and had a lot riding on that last 12 months," he said.
"It was a tough time, the knee was a kick in the guts and to come back three games in and do my shoulder, that was a heartbreaker.
"Re-signing was a real boost and got me through knowing I didn't have to stress about things, because I knew they're happy with me.
"They [Raiders] always say they look after their juniors and they do. I'm extremely grateful for what they've done."
Croker need not have worried, as good judges have always rated him one of the best juniors in the league.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has already earmarked him as a realistic chance to make his first grade debut this year, most likely as a bench utility.
He has some way to go to emulate the achievements of his famous uncle, but was happy to tick playing alongside him off the bucket list.
"It's the first time in eight or nine months since I've had a proper crack at it with my shoulder, it was good to get out there and blow the cobwebs away, and muck around with big Toots [Jason Croker]," he said.
I felt like I had to look after him out there as he hasn't been out there that long, but he ended up looking after me.
"It was a pretty special moment to see Dad this morning and see how pumped he was about it.
"Obviously at Crookwell everyone loves him but seeing him around, he was just Dad's brother.
"I was glad it was like that and he was even the same when he got back home; he didn't want to talk about footy but whenever he needed me he was always around to look after me."
"It was pretty special, he's a good kid and it was a good team effort," he told Fox Sports.
"The legs got a bit heavy there, I went on for my third stint and lasted about 20 seconds, it was good fun."
Papua New Guinea centre Kato Ottio - set to be given a one year deal by the Raiders - got off to a good start with a four-pointer in his debut appearance.
