There are two moments in his footy career that still make dynamic Maitland Pickers centre Gary Anderson shudder.
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The first was making his debut at Kurri Kurri on the Bulldogs Old Boys Day and the second, the sickening clash last season which left him with his jaw broken in two places after his tackle of a Central Newcastle opponent went wrong.
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"I was 17 and I debuted at Kurri Kurri on Old Boys Day. I can remember it like yesterday I'm afraid," said 23-year-old Anderson who was man of the match in the Pickers 38-10 win against South Newcastle at the Maitland Sportsground on Saturday.
"We got flogged and I remember I had a hair cut with a rat's tail and I was getting abused from the sideline. I can laugh at it now, just."
Anderson is a key member of a highly talented backline which has played a huge part in the Pickers' unbeaten run after eight games.
He is looking forward to facing one of their biggest challenges to date on Saturday with Maitland away to the Macquarie Scorpions.
Anderson said the worst moment of his career, last year's broken jaw on the eve of the finals, is driving him to be part of what he hopes will be a Pickers' premiership in 2022.
"I went to put a shot on and I got him, but at the last minute he turned out and clipped my jaw," Anderson recalls.
"It was broken in two spots. I had to get surgery on it. They put some plates in it and some wires around my teeth."
The plates remain in, but the wires were removed after six weeks ending an agonising time without solid foods for the self-confessed big eater.
"It felt like months. It took about six weeks, it was the longest time for me as I'm big eater and couldn't eat," Anderson said. "No gym, no running. I could barely do anything."
Anderson said he was gutted after coming home from playing with the Sunshine Coast Falcons to be part of what he hoped would be another premiership team after being part of the 2020 President's Cup premiership.
But he said there were no real mental scars from the broken jaw and he hadn't held back in anything on the field.
"I've only had one little worried moment this year when I got an elbow to it, but everything was fine," he said.
After a slow start by his standards to 2022 after a limited preseason, Anderson has worked hard on the training track to lift his output on the field.
"It feels good to finally find some form, it was a bit proppy at the start of the year," he said.
"My confidence was down. I didn't really get the preseason that I wanted to have. I was just flat out with work and not getting the extras in as much as I would have liked. I'm comfortable now that I can do what I want.
"The in-season training has helped me a lot. Also the extra stuff the coaches give me has helped me heaps."
Anderson and teammates James Bradley and Matt Soper-Lawler all crossed for doubles against South Newcastle on the weekend and he is keen to resume the friendly rivalry to be the leading try scorer.
Bradley leads the Pickers and competition with nine and Anderson is second in the league and at the Pickers with seven, Soper-Lawler and Perry Le Broque are equal third with six.
"We love the competition but also we help each other out a lot. I owe Matty Soper-Lawler a lot of thanks he has given me heaps of feedback and heaps of tips that have helped me along the way," Anderson said.
Anderson said he was looking forward to Saturday's game against Macquarie Scorpions.
"We haven't played Macquarie yet, we've got them on the weekend. Macquarie and Central at this stage appear to be the biggest tests for us," he said.
The disappointment of last season and the joy of winning the President's Cup title in 2020 is motivating Anderson to go all the way in 2022 and become Newcastle Rugby League premiers for the first time since the back-to-back flags in 20210-11.
"To win the President's Cup was probably the best moment of my career. It was a good day," he said.
"We didn't know really what to expect as we were coming up against teams we had never played and were a new group coming together, so it was special.
"We won the President's Cup, but that's behind us now and the Newy one is the next. We've all got our eyes on that one next."