When it takes 91 games to score your first try, every score thereafter is going to be celebrated like the moon landing and so it was when all 106kg of Blake "Blocka" Lawrie crashed over for the Dragons in their win over Gold Coast last week.
It's Lawrie's second career try in 104 matches and his first since getting off the mark last year.
Watch out Alex Johnston, here comes the big fella.
"It was just sticking to the game plan. We always liked to come back to the centre of the field with some middle shape. [Jack Bird] Birdy just passed it and there was a hole and, let me tell you, I'd have been filthy if I didn't get it, because there was a big hole there," Lawrie said.
"Birdy's played a bit of five-eighth in his time and he'd have got the sack if he couldn't see that. I'd have told Hook [Anthony Griffin] to put him on the wing this week."
Earlier, across town at Leichhardt, it had been a rotten day for the Tigers, but for the brief second when it seemed that Alex Twal — after 103 games of waiting — had finally broken through when he crashed over from close range against the Knights.
Replays showed the Lebanese international dropped it over the line but had held onto it, the crowd might have rushed the field like they did for Lance Franklin's 1,000th goal – there's been a petition for it and everything.
Coming so agonisingly close is just a memory for Lawrie but even before his breakthrough score the big unit was always a good sport about his try-scoring record.
After all, as a hard-nosed front-rower, he's more concerned with carrying the ball with bad intentions and hitting with the kind of horsepower that earns you the nickname "Blocka".
Lawrie did plenty of that against the Titans, where he ran for 137 metres and topped the Red V's tackle count with 38.
However, for better or for worse, that kind of stuff — as necessary as it is — does not quicken the pulse like a try.
But that's also what makes his tries — or any other prop forward's tries — that little bit more special. It's not supposed to happen, until it does. If you can't find happiness there it's not worth finding.
There's a novelty to it, a moment in the sun for players who don't get a lot of it, which means it becomes an opportunity to celebrate the oft overlooked, as Lawrie's teammates did.
"It was nice not to wait another 90 games, but the boys all jumped on me like it was my first. I'm happier with the win, the try is just the cherry on the cake," Lawrie said.
"I don't mind it from Benny Hunt, kicking the ball into the crowd after he scores, so I did it as well. I wasn't sure what to do, it doesn't happen very often, but maybe I'll have to think of my own celebration.
"There's a dance called 'the Griddy'. The boys want me to hit that, but that's too lairy for a front-rower, unfortunately."
There were similar scenes when former Rooster and Tiger Jason Lowrie — another tough front-rower — scored his first try in 2000, after waiting 139 matches, or when Bryce Gibbs waited for eight years and 142 games between the third and fourth tries of his career.
It'll be the same when Twal — the clubhouse leader for try-less, on 104 games without a score — finally breaks through.
In a cruel twist of fate, the match on the weekend, where he came so close, was the game where he passed former Canterbury prop Mark Brokenshire's record for most first grade matches without a try.
Twal still has time to hand the record back to Brokenshire and he is still a fair way off the honour of longest first-grade career without a try.
That honour belongs to Ed Rigney, who played for South Sydney, Newtown and Eastern Suburbs from 1912 to 1926 and didn't score in 102 matches, all of which, incredibly, were at fullback.
Unfortunately, Lawrie doesn't really have any tips for Twal or for any other big unit who has not got over the line in a while.
"Apparently the Tigers have a few set plays for Twal. I think that makes it worse, because — if you have set plays and they don't come off — the coach says it's a waste of a play," Lawrie said.
"There's no secret recipe other than go stand on the wing but the middles can't do that, we have to do the hard yards and just hope you're in the right place in the right time.
"I feel Twally's pain — or I felt his pain — [and] I'm sure plenty of people want to see it happen. You say it doesn't play on your mind, but it does, because the boys get into you at training and people talk about it, even if it's not really your job."
Not scoring a try isn't a measure of a forward's quality: Lawrie himself is evidence of that, as is one of his opponents this week in Brisbane's Pat Carrigan.
Carrigan — a Test and Origin player who is rapidly becoming one of the best forward in the league — is yet to score in 62 NRL matches, and will lead the reborn Broncos into a fearsome middle battle with the Dragons on Saturday night.
"We've been slandered over the past couple of months in the media, [with] everyone saying we're going to get the wooden spoon and all that, so it was pleasing to have a strong performance and start the year well," Lawrie said.
"We have a massive clash up in Brisbane [against the Broncos] this week. They've knocked off two top sides and they're firing.
"It'll especially be a challenge for us in the forwards, Birdy and I have spoken about it a bit already, our bench was great against the Titans and we'll need another big performance this time."
