Sean O'Sullivan spent more than two weeks fooling both Manly and his own parents before fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing No.7 for Penrith.
O'Sullivan starred in Thursday night's NRL opener, filling in for Nathan Cleary with aplomb in the 28-6 win over Manly.
The defending premiers only confirmed on Tuesday that Cleary would miss the first three rounds, after months of speculation on his shoulder recovery.
But in truth, both Penrith and O'Sullivan had been aware since before the last pre-season trial he would be the man playing No.7 against Manly.
After moving to Penrith as a seven-year-old, O'Sullivan was ordered to keep it quiet and not even tell his parents he would be playing.
"No-one knew," O'Sullivan said.
"I just offered a simple 'I don't know yet' (when they asked).
"They are pretty good with all that stuff. They understand when it's okay for them to know they will know.
"It's what I had to do for the team, so it wasn't a big deal."
Penrith's decision to keep Cleary's absence secret was two-fold.
As recently as two weeks ago players were stating they were confident he would play, while also knowing he wouldn't run out in round one.
Penrith were keen to keep the attention off O'Sullivan, while also happy to leave the Sea Eagles second guessing.
"I was certainly thinking of Sully and a few other things as well," coach Ivan Cleary said.
"It just shows his commitment to the team and the club that he kept it in-house.
"I knew he was nervous the last couple of days ... He knew all eyes would be on him."
O'Sullivan had reason to be nervous, declaring he had never been more jittery in his life than he was in the lead up to Thursday's game.
A teenage member of Penrith's halves academy with Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, he thought his shot at the Panthers jersey was gone when he left the club at age 17.
He made the call to come back this year from the Warriors, happy to sit behind the NSW State of Origin halfback and bide his time.
"That was the main reason why I came here, to learn from Nath," O'Sullivan said.
"I am only 23, so I really felt I could take a lot out of this and head down, keep learning from him and hopefully I nail it.
"He has been amazing this whole pre-season.
"Even yesterday I was nervous as after captain's run, but just the way he spoke to me after (helped)."
O'Sullivan is only on a one-year deal at Penrith and the next month provides the perfect shop window opportunity.
His father Peter is now at the Dolphins as a recruitment manager, but the 23-year-old insisted there was nothing to suggest he would follow him next year.
"He will do his own thing. And I am happy doing my own thing too," O'Sullivan said.
