PICTURE the scene.
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It's midway through the 2022 NRL season, and there is not a spare seat to be found at McDonald Jones Stadium.
After a week of unprecedented demand, tickets have sold out and, for the first time in years, the Knights are playing in front of a full house.
The buzz of anticipation among the Novocastrian faithful starts building to a crescendo late in the first half, as the player wearing jumper No.14 limbers up and moves to the sideline.
Thousands of fans rise to their feet, some with tears in their eyes, and player No.14 receives a standing ovation as he enters the fray.
The trademark New-cas-tle, New-cas-tle chant has rarely been louder or more emotionally charged.
Welcome back, Jarrod Mullen.
OK, so all of the above is a figment of my imagination, but how good would it be?
How good?
For mine, it would be pretty close to the ultimate rugby league fairytale.
Mullen, of course, has been to hell and back over the past five years.
Many assumed his NRL career was over in 2016 when he tested positive to a banned steroid and received a four-year WADA ban.
Then came the dramatic fall from grace that culminated in him suffering a near-fatal overdose and pleading guilty to trafficking $10,000 worth of cocaine.
Many people in Mullen's situation would never have recovered.
But the former State of Origin playmaker - the last man to captain the Knights to victory in a play-off game - wasn't about to concede defeat in the game of his life.
He checked into rehab and, since emerging, says he has not touched drugs or alcohol in more than three years.
He completed a drugs-and-alcohol counselling course and found work mentoring troubled youths.
Becoming a father for the first time, after his daughter Stevie was born in March last year, gave him a new sense of purpose and responsibility.
With his life back on track, Mullen then turned his attention to some unfinished business - resuming his rugby league career.
With more than a year of his drugs ban still remaining, Mullen returned to training.
He kept his comeback plans secret until January this year, when he was cleared by WADA to return to competition and signed with the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Melbourne Storm's Queensland Cup feeder team.
Last week he received a further boost when the NRL integrity unit advised his manager, Steve Gillis, that they would not stand in Mullen's way if an NRL club applied to register him.
Whether any are interested remains to be seen.
Mullen turns 35 in April and hasn't played in the NRL for more than five years.
His stint with the Sushine Coast was interrupted by a dislocated shoulder and a nasty concussion, which restricted him to a handful of games.
NRL clubs are pragmatic, even ruthless, when it comes to recruiting players. They don't like wasting one cent of their salary cap.
With pre-season training kicking off in a matter of weeks, most clubs will have their rosters all but finalised. Any positions that remain vacant are usually earmarked for a specific purpose.
Realistically, the odds stacked against Mullo might be insurmountable.
He is effectively competing for a contract with players who might be 10 or even 15 years younger than him, with their best football still ahead of them.
Players who, to use the words of foundation Knights coach Allan McMahon, have a lot more "tomorrows" ahead of them than Mullen.
But I can't help thinking that Jarrod has so much more to offer than what he delivers on game day.
Imagine the inspiration he would provide if he was offered one of those train-and-trial contracts with a club, as the blokes earning the massive dollars watch the oldest member of their squad busting his backside.
Imagine how valuable he could be as captain of a reserve-grade side, who plugs the gaps in first grade whenever injuries or representative commitments take a toll.
Imagine if a club decided to offer him not only a playing deal, but also an assistant coach's role with their junior teams.
Not only could he share the experience he gained during a 211-game NRL career, he would also be the perfect person to educate young players about the perils and pitfalls of life as a professional athlete.
Who better to learn from than someone who has been there and done that?
All of which raises the question of whether the Knights would be willing to welcome Mullen back into the fold, having recently reconnected with the local junior by inducting him as a life member.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien may well feel he has no need for another playmaker, given that he aleady has Jake Clifford, Mitchell Pearce, Phoenix Crossland, Simi Sasagi and new signing Adam Clune on the books.
But that could all change soon if, as has been widely predicted, Pearce secures a release to join Catalans Dragons.
It might seem a long shot, but I can't help wondering if Mullen could be the ideal man to replace Pearce.
Sometimes in life, fairytales come true.
