Had Lachlan Fitzgibbon followed his school mates overseas, it's highly unlikely he'd be a Newcastle Knight.
It was 2015 and his football career was at a crossroads.
Either he fully commits, or he looks elsewhere.
It was a big call for a 20-year-old to make.
Especially when his friends had organised to head to America on exchange and study abroad.
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"I sort of dropped off a bit and wasn't really sure where I was going with my footy until I made the squad in SG Ball and transitioned into the 20s," Fitzgibbon said.
"I'd planned to maybe go overseas and live in America for a semester.
"I was in touch with a couple of coaches there. (Rick Stone) was the coach (of the Knights) at the time and asked me if I wanted to do a pre-season.
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"It was a pretty big thing. I was genuinely weighing up my options. I got to the stage where I'd spoken to a few people and they said you don't want to be looking back on this time and asking, 'what if?'."
Promised nothing more than a train and trial deal, the backrower had impressed enough to secure a one-year contract.
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Having made the decision to focus solely on rugby league, the edge started the 2015 season in NSW Cup and finished the year with his first-grade debut.
Stone had moved on from the Club and Danny Buderus had come in as interim coach.
Fitzgibbon had previously been 18th man for a number of weeks but Buderus was in search of a way to fire his struggling team up.
So, in Round 21 against St George Illawarra, Fitzgibbon and Nathan Ross were welcomed into the top grade.
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"It was a difficult situation for Lachie to make his debut in," Buderus recalled.
"It was a difficult time. They had a caretaker coach in myself but I wanted to change things up. He and Nathan Ross were two players I looked at who had characteristics that could get the team firing a little bit.
"They were pretty passionate about being a good teammate."
While Fitzgibbon had arrived in the NRL, there was still plenty of questions marks around whether he would make it long term.
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Privately, many questioned his toughness and to play through pain.
It's something he acknowledges and overcame.
"There were times when I was younger where there was probably question marks over my mentality and toughness," Fitzgibbon said.
"It's a barrier you have to overcome to be able to play NRL football and not only play but play consistently.
"It's something I continues to work towards to get better at."