Two months after revolutionary surgery on his right knee, premiership-winning flyer Timana Tahu ran for the first time this week and he couldn't be happier.
As a result of the stem cell procedure, which fast tracks recovery thanks to the insertion of a donor's cartilage, the veteran centre is running months ahead of schedule.
So while last season was tough for Tahu, who managed just five NRL games, he is just grateful to be back with the opportunity to finish his career in style.
"I know I’ve only got a couple of years left, so I didn’t want to go out like that," Tahu tells Knights TV on Friday.
"Not many people go out on a good note, so I’m very lucky not to finish with a career-ending injury.
"If you do your ACL it’s usually a year and you’re out for the season, so I thought it was all over.
"But the doctor said you can get a donor and you’ll come back sooner.
"It has been nine weeks and I’m back running.
"Whereas if it was about five years ago, I would have just been getting out of a brace.
"So technology these days is unreal."
Tahu ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament playing for the Newcastle Yowies in the Koori Knockout at Raymond Terrace last October.
"There have been other players, like Anthony Tupou, who came back in five months from the surgery, so that shows how good it is," he explains.
"Now I’ve got high hopes and I’m a lot happier.
"I’m just going through my rehab and hopefully a month into the season I’m back playing."
On the back of his surgery, Tahu is now determined to work hard, return to the NRL ranks and finish his career on a good note.
He also wants to help guide the next generation of Knights to ensure the Club remains successful for many years to come.
"It’s good being around the club," he enthuses.
"Everyone is happy and it’s a happy environment as well and that makes you more positive and makes you want to train hard and get back and play football.
"I just want to be competitive, that’s the main thing for me.
"I’ve done what I’ve done in the past, but there are young players coming through the club and my role as well will be trying to help them and make them better players.
"I can give them some of my knowledge, because we have a lot of good young kids coming through like Dane Gagai and Joey Leilua.
"I’ve been in plenty of finals and ended up winning a grand final, so the ultimate goal for this club is to win another premiership.
"I’ll do whatever it takes to win another one."
Tahu took the first steps towards that dream farewell title when he ran for the first time on Friday.
And while he freely admits running for the first time in weeks felt 'weird', he is comforted by the fact he is actually training again when others without the stem cell surgery would still be deep in recovery.
"It was a bit awkward," he admits.
"It felt like some new leg that was put on me and my brain wasn’t telling it what it should be doing.
"But it was good to start running again, because after the operation sitting on the lounge for three weeks was a bit daunting.
"Now I’m running and feeling good again, I'm very lucky."
It's a reality that will drive Tahu to even greater heights in 2014.
