As a St George Illawarra junior, Jack Bostock looked up to Mark Gasnier and Matt Cooper, so it is fitting that he is on track to hold down a centre spot in the NRL.
The Dolphins flyer returned for his first NRL match in 10 months after recovering from an ACL injury to score two tries and star in the 28-10 win over Melbourne on Friday night.
Bostock, 22, played the previous week at centre for Redcliffe in the Hostplus Cup and scored two tries.
Initially playing his juniors for Shellharbour Stingrays, he came through the Dragons system and shone at centre in SG Ball for the Illawarra Steelers.
He was signed by the Dolphins as a centre but his NRL opportunity came as a winger, where he has started 49 of his 51 matches.
"Centre suits my style of play more, closer to the ball. That's where I enjoy playing my footy," Bostock said.
"I played more centre growing up. I hadn't played wing until I moved to the Dolphins really.
"I'm not perfect. I've still got a lot to learn in the centres.
"I have Herbie (Farnworth) on the other side. I was on his wing a lot so now I am playing centres obviously he wants me to do well, so he is teaching me a lot."
Farnworth was at his brilliant best against the Storm and ran for 241m.
Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf was emphatic when asked whether Bostock would remain in his favourite position.
"It is great to have Jack back. He wants to be a centre. I see him as a centre and he will be our centre going forward," Woolf said.
Gasnier and Cooper were elite representative centres who played a key role in St George Illawarra's 2010 premiership.
Bostock, who has an uncanny resemblance to Gasnier, was a youngster in the Red V system and looked up to the duo.
"Yeah, I liked watching Gaz and Matt Cooper," he said.
"They were two pretty good centres when I was growing up down there watching the Dragons play, so hopefully I can take a few things out of their play."
The ACL was Bostock's first major injury, but he had utility Max Plath with him for a good chunk of the rehab to help him through.
"Plathy was a little bit ahead of me so he always could tell me what was coming and what to expect," Bostock said.
"He's a good trainer so he kept me in line.
"There's always some tough times in rehab. Everyone who plays NRL has had a bad injury in their time and they know that rehab's pretty shit, but you know there's always light at the end of the tunnel.
"It was good to go out there and start playing footy again. That's what we're here to do, so I loved it."
