Scott Dureau said no to Nathan Brown. Not once but twice.
Before taking control of the nib Newcastle Knights, Brown was coaching Huddersfield in 2009 when he first attempted to sign Dureau.
He later coached St Helens for two seasons and won a premiership in 2014 and his efforts to secure Dureau were again knocked back.
"Browny had tried to sign me a couple of times when he was at Huddersfield," Dureau told the Our Town Our Team podcast.
Starting his career with Newcastle in the NRL in 2007, Dureau spent four seasons with the Knights.
After slipping down the pecking order at the red and blue, Dureau decided halfway through 2010 he'd head overseas for a fresh start.
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And despite Brown's best efforts, the former half had decided to join French based outfit Catalans Dragons.
He spent his five-year Super League career with the Dragons before deciding to retire.
His body had given up on him with persistent injuries making it difficult for him to train.
Dureau had no set plan for life after football aside from knowing he wanted to stay involved in the game.
Now Jersey Flegg coach after heading up the Elite Pathways for the Knights, Dureau returned to Australia in search of an opportunity.
He spoke to Trent Robinson and Danny Buderus about coaching openings before reaching out to Brown, cap in hand.
"It was quite a funny conversation," he admitted.
"He said you 'said no to me before, why am I going to give you a shot now?' jokingly. He's really good, Browny. He did a bit of research and spoke to a few people that know me well and he said, 'we want you to be involved with the club'.
"Browny said, 'I want you to come in and mentor a few of our young halves, do a bit of kicking'.
"In 2016 I got involved with the Club and got involved as much as I could and it went from there."
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