Liam Martin still reckons it was dumb luck that landed him at Penrith.
A teenager at West Wyalong High School back in 2014, Martin was sent to Sydney for a week of work experience in engineering.
"I somehow landed in Hayden Simmons' house (in Penrith), who is Royce's brother," Martin told AAP.
Martin remains unsure if the choice of hosts was deliberate or strange twist of fate, with the Simmons' regular hosts of West Wyalong students under a Rotary Club partnership.
But when Martin found out where he was staying, he made a point of wearing his football bag over his shoulders and making his long-term sporting dreams obvious.
"They were just like 'do you want to come and have a look around and see what their training facilities are like at the stadium?'," Martin recalled.
"So of course I said that I would absolutely would love to.
"I was more worried about that than the actual work experience."
As luck would have it, Penrith's long-term recruitment manager was there that same day.
"He was from Gundagai, so we got talking and he on a whim was just like, 'do you want to come down for a trial one day'?
"So I came down, trialled, played alright. I went home and ended up playing a rep game that turned out they were watching and played good.
"They gave me a call and offered me an SG Ball season with them that I ended up doing. Had a pretty good year and the rest is history."
To say Martin's career is a matter of luck would be a complete fallacy.
The second-rower is regarded as one of the hardest-working players and most reliable men at Penrith.
Within two years he was part of Penrith's all-conquering under-20s team under Cameron Ciraldo, alongside the likes of Dylan Edwards and Brian To'o.
Now he is a genuine Panthers NRL star and NSW State of Origin player and come Sunday against Parramatta he will gun for back-to-back premierships.
But still, Martin admits he almost feels guilty for how well it turned out for him.
Penrith's junior pathways system is highly regarded, but there remain large parts of the state that don't have the same attention from other clubs.
"I just wish more clubs would do it because there is such talent out there," he said.
"I've got mates I played with that were better than me and they could have easily been down here, but they sort of just get overlooked."
And as for that week of work experience and any chance of a career in engineering?
"I didn't think much of it ... I think the place might even be shut down now," Martin quipped.
"I was more worried about the football."
