Jesse Sue is one win away from playing in his first final series in almost a decade in the NRL.
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And he has Josh McGuire to thank for it.
Well, not only the former Brisbane, Cowboys and now Dragons prop but also a few other players who have come up against the quietly spoken Knights forward in the past.
You see, when Knights recruitment boss Clint Zammit went looking at the end of last season for a back-up frontrower to compliment the Saifiti's, Daniel and Jacob, and David Klemmer, he had some criteria he wanted the new recruit to have.
"I wanted experience, someone in their late 20's who had played more than 90 top grade games, a forward with some leg speed but above all else, I wanted a tough unit," Zammit told League HQ. "Toughness was the big one and no-one knows that better than the players themselves."
So Zammit rang, among others, McGuire with some names including Sue, who was off contract and un-signed at the Bulldogs.
"I've got a good relationship with Josh and knew he wouldn't pull any punches," he said.
"When I ran Jesse's name by him, he wrapped him for his toughness and said he was always hard to handle with his footwork. A couple of other players I spoke to about him said the same thing. It went from there."
Signed to a modest two-year-deal after a couple of injury-plagued seasons at the Bulldogs, Sue has had a big influence for the Knights on and off the field this season.
He's stayed clear of the club's injury curse to play in all but one game with 12 of his 21 matches coming off the bench.
"He's played at two clubs over the past eight or nine years [Tigers and Bulldogs] that haven't had much success,"Zammit said.
"He's never played finals footy and I just thought if we get him here in this environment, he will be good for us and provide some punch for us and we will be good for him and improve him as a player as well.
"He's 29 and played 160 odd games now but I don't reckon he's ever played any better than he's played for us this season. He dents the defence and gets us over the advantage line with his speed and footwork and just his presence around the group is fantastic.
"He's been a really good influence on the younger guys in particular and just a good role model to have around. He's been a really good signing for us."
That influence will need to be even greater against the Titans tonight on the Sunshine Coast with both Daniel Saifiti and Klemmer out of action and Sue likely to start the game up front alongside Jacob Saifiti.
He says playing finals footy has always been a dream of his.
"I've never played finals so this is all new to me going forward," he said. "It's not there yet, we've still got two games to go but yeah, hopefully that dream comes true."
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