Adam Elliott might have begun his short stint in Canberra as damaged goods following some off-field issues, but he's looking to cap his stellar reputational repair job with an impactful NRL finals campaign.
His career in limbo not even a year back when Canterbury tore up the last two years and $1 million of his contract following personal indiscretions, Elliott has quickly become a key piece of a resurgent Raider line-up poised to book their place in the top eight on Sunday.
After completing his short and sweet one-year stay in the capital, the 27-year-old lock will begin a three-year deal in Newcastle, which he earned with a career-best season averaging 94 run metres and 2.5 tackle busts per game.
He'll also head to the Hunter as a much-loved teammate, which Elliott says is all you can ask for.
"Coming down here I was confident I'd be able to find my way into this team and hold the spot down and I hope I've been able to add value to the side," he told reporters.
"I just want to be remembered as a player my teammates wanted to play with. I've been in the game long enough now to know that you could be going the best you've ever been and people are still gonna knock you.
"You can be going not so great, and some people will still be saying how good you are.
"As long as your teammates want to play beside you each week, that's all that really matters and as long as these boys want to keep playing with me to the end of the season, that's all I care about."
Elliott is one of a number of departing Raiders who farewelled GIO Stadium as their home ground at the weekend, joined by Josh Hodgson (bound for Parramatta), Ryan Sutton (Canterbury) and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (NZ Warriors).
Replicating his brilliant Canberra experience through the rest of his career has become a priority moving forward, he said.
"It's been the most enjoyable year of football I've had my whole career," Elliott said.
"It's been really refreshing for me being here and I'm definitely sad I'll be leaving but it's something I'll always be very proud of moving forward, and I'll be back here at the drop of a hat.
"It's a very tight-knit group here ... everyone sort of says that ... it's not until you actually come inside these four walls and you see how much the boys care about each other.
"I feel very lucky that I've been able to be a part of it and have a taste of it ... now it's something I want to carry for the rest of my career."
