Dylan Edwards has been Penrith through-and-through for a decade but his months away from the club as a teenager were some of the most important in the making of an elite fullback.
After recruitment boss Jim Jones received a tip-off, the Panthers brought the teenaged Edwards down from Dorrigo on the NSW Coffs Coast for a trial with their junior sides in 2013.
The youngster played five-eighth for Penrith's SG Ball team in 2014 but was hampered by injuries, and by his own admission was a far cry from the player he has become.
"I didn't play that well when I was younger, when I was 18 and in SG Ball, so it was just sort of 'give it a crack and see how you go'," Edwards told AAP.
During that 2014 season, Jones and Penrith's welfare and education manager Shane Elford sat Edwards down and said they'd like him to go back to Dorrigo.
It wasn't a goodbye, just a chance for the young player to go home and take stock after a hectic few months in the big smoke.
Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Charlie Staines and Matt Burton are among the other country prospects scouted by the Panthers who were given similar chances to return home.
"(The country boys) find out this is hard; they hit hard here, they train hard, they do weights. There are dietitians and nutritionists, it's the whole hog," Jones told AAP.
"So we send them back home. They get back there and play and they think, 'I know what I've got to do to make it', and if they want to do it they come, or they stay back home."
Edwards knew the ball was in his court after he went back to Dorrigo. He kept his focus on his NRL dream and continued to train for the 2015 pre-season.
"It gave me confidence that they'd done that a lot before, they'd had a lot of country kids that they've looked after and been able to get through (to the NRL)," he said.
The change of scene proved the making of Edwards.
"He came back and he blew them away," Jones said.
"Running the 200s, running the 400s, he won all the beep tests. He just drained them, he was so impressive."
In 2016, Edwards made his NRL debut on the wing as a 20-year-old.
He finished the season after that as Penrith's first-choice fullback when Matt Moylan switched into the halves.
In Sunday's grand final against Brisbane he has the chance to win a third consecutive premiership with the Panthers.
For Jones, Edwards' ascent to greatness has come as no surprise.
"Attitude's everything," he said.
"You go out and you see a good player but then you get them into your system and it's how they apply themselves, how they train, the dedication they put in.
"It's a lot of sacrifice and a lot of hard work. But I think Dylan would tell you that it's all been worthwhile now."
