The lowest point of Brent Naden's career taught him a valuable lesson: "Don't try to be someone you're not."
When the Indigenous All Stars address their teammates in camp this week, detailing their roots as well as trials and tribulations, Naden is hopeful his tale will have an impact.
"It'll be good to hear a lot of the other boys' stories but it'll be good to share mine, too, to see if I can help out someone," the All Stars debutant said on Tuesday.
"Not with football but help someone outside of football. It'd mean a lot."
The proud Wiradjuri man acknowledges he's "come a long way in 12 months".
This time last year, the 26-year-old centre's NRL future was unclear in the fallout from his admission to recreationally taking cocaine the night before Penrith's 2020 grand-final loss to Melbourne.
To his credit, Naden faced the problem head-on by voluntarily completing a rehab program but was relegated to playing reserve grade for the Panthers.
After signing a two-year deal with Canterbury in April, Naden returned to Penrith's NRL team at the back-end of the season - featuring in seven games including a semi-final as they won the competition.
He praises his partner Eden for "keeping me on the straight and narrow". The pair are due to welcome their first child, a boy, at the start of May.
"It changes my whole perspective on everything. I used to play for my family back in Wellington (NSW), and I still will be, but I've got a family of my own now," Naden said.
"That gives me more motivation and reason to play ... tick all these goals and set up my family for life."
Playing in the All Stars game has long been one of Naden's ambitions. He fought back tears when Bulldogs teammate Josh Addo-Carr informed him he'd been called up last Friday.
Making it more momentous, Naden and Addo-Carr, who will captain the Indigenous team, are related.
"My nan, Dad's mum, she was a Carr - Maxine Carr," Naden said.
"It means a lot. You play for your family, you play for your culture, so to be able to play with one of your family members is just something special.
"It's something I'll tell my little boy."
With his focus on locking down Canterbury's left centre position inside Addo-Carr, Saturday's All Stars clash against the Maori at CommBank Stadium will allow the duo to work on their combination.
