KNIGHTS forward Jack Hetherington could have been playing for Canberra, instead of against them, in Sunday's do-or-die final at McDonald Jones Stadium.
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When Hetherington learned last year that Canterbury wanted to move him on, with a season remaining on his contract, the big front-rower had no shortage of options.
Among the interested parties was Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, who played alongside Jack's father, Brett, and uncle Brett Mullins in Canberra's premiership-winning 1994 team.
Brett, like Jack a towering prop or back-rower, played in 119 top-grade games for the Green Machine between 1992 and 1998 and last year was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.
"It was tempting at one stage," Jack said of Canberra's offer.
"Obviously for me, the Raiders are very nostalgic and hold a special place in my heart. But that all goes out the window when we play them this week."
He might have been born in the national capital, but the 27-year-old felt a stronger emotional attachment to Newcastle, which is his wife's home town and where he spent a large part of his childhood, after Brett bought into Belmont's Gunyah Hotel when his NRL career finished more than 20 years ago.
"For my family, it was the best decision I've made in my career, and I'm so glad I've done it," the Valentine-Eleebana junior said.
"Greatest city on earth, here."
After signing a three-year deal with Newcastle, Hetherington has made a significant contribution to helping them reach the play-offs by being the only player to appear in all 24 regular-season fixtures.
It's been a reward for perseverence after he underwent three consecutive surgeries on his left shoulder before joining the Knights, which effectively wrote off his pre-season.
"I basically didn't run for 10 months because I went through surgery after surgery after surgery," he said.
"So I was playing catch-up right through the pre-season and basically didn't do a lot of running before round one."
He said that was a challenge mentally as well as physically.
"It's hard," he said.
"After the surgeries, for the first few weeks, you can't sweat, so I wasn't able to train and exercise.
"I find it hard to not be able to train. If I'm not keeping active, I can spiral pretty easily, so you just try to keep yourself busy mentally.
"I also tried to be really careful with my diet.
"But I'm fit now, enjoying my footy, and next year I'm hoping to have a really big pre-season and go from there."
But first things first.
"I'm super proud of us as a team and excited to be part of the finals," he said. "I can't wait."
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