It was at the end of 2015 that Briton Nikora arrived on Cronulla's door step for an open trial with the club's under-20s team.
Nikora had come down from the Gold Coast where he played his park football with Parkwood Saints simply looking for an opportunity.
In a little more than three years, his journey from promising youngster to NRL footballer was completed on Friday night as Nikora made his NRL debut for the Sharks in their season opening 14-8 loss to the Knights in Newcastle.
Nikora was strong on debut, running for more than 120 metres from his 14 carries as he played all 80 minutes. He made 40 tackles, two of which saved almost certain Newcastle tries in the first half.
Cronulla host Gold Coast at Shark Park on Saturday looking to bounce back from their sixth-straight opening round loss. It will be the Sharks' only home game of the first month of the competition.
Nikora will look to build on his first up showing against the Titans having won the race to fill the void left by veteran back-rower Luke Lewis on Cronulla's right edge.
"I'm loving it here. All the boys like Wadeo, even Lewy last year, took me under their wing. Taught me what I need to focus on and telling me to bide my time. And then just be patient and when you do get a crack just take it with both hands," Nikora told the Leader.
"[The game] was pretty fast. But I think it was just because we were defending most of the time, especially in the first half it was quite quick because we were making a lot of mistakes and defending most of the time.
"I wasn't too bad. The contact wasn't too bad. It was alright. It was just a little bit faster at the start. I got a little bit of confidence out of [my defending]. I try to make every tackle I can, even if it's one on one, whatever I can for the team."
The 21-year-old's simple goal for this season is to play as much first grade as he can. The retirement of Lewis and serious knee injury to Wade Graham created an opportunity but Nikora took it through his effort and application to pre-season training under new head coach - and his former under-20s coach - John Morris.
Nikora, from Mount Maunganui on New Zealand's north island, played just one game for Cronulla's under-20s side in 2016 before going on to become a vital part of the team in 2017 when he also represented the Junior Kiwis.
He graduated to the now Canterbury Cup with Newtown last season and Morris told the Leader he was pleased with Nikora's "solid" debut.
"He's a real good kid. And it's a really good story. He came to us as an open trialist a few years ago," Morris said.
"[He] had a couple of years with me in the [under-20s]. It's a really special moment for me to bring someone through, as with Blayke Brailey, and give them their debut. I though Brit wasn't out of place at all, actually.
"And given some more games there playing outside Shaun Johnson he's only going to get better for it. He battled through, saved a good try in the first half on Lachlan Fitzgibbon, a really good one on one tackle so came up with some big plays for us, Brit."
Blayke Brailey also made his NRL debut off the bench for the Sharks, with the highly-rated youngster also tipped to have a bright future as a number of clubs reportedly circle for his services.
