HE was the only player to appear in every game last season for the Newcastle Knights, which included a career highlight - his first taste of finals football.
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But as Jack Hetherington reflects on his 2023 campaign, he has provided a brutally honest assessment of his performances and a remarkable insight into the physical and emotional challenges he faced simply to take the field.
"If I look back on last season, I'm really proud of what we did as a team," the big forward told the Herald.
"It was really reassuring and positive.
"But personally, I was pretty embarrassed with my performance for the first three-quarters of the year."
Hetherington arrived at the Knights after stints with Penrith, the Warriors and Canterbury. His last season at the Bulldogs was written off by a shoulder injury that required a reconstruction, then two further bouts of surgery.
After each operation he was told to wait until his wounds had healed before resuming exercise, in case sweat caused an infection.
So for months at time, he couldn't run, and because his shoulder had been painstakingly rebuilt, he couldn't lift weights, either. Hardly an ideal preparation after joining a new club.
"I wasn't able to train," he said. "I didn't have a pre-season at all. I'd come back from my shoulder surgeries, and I think I was able to run for the last three or four weeks of pre-season, and then I tore my calf.
"So I was basically playing catch-up footy for the first three-quarters of the year."
Despite his truncated lead-up, the 27-year-old was named for Newcastle's round-one clash against the Warriors in Wellington and took his place on the bench.
At a time when his teammates and opponents were in peak physical condition, having spent months honing their fitness and strength, Hetherington was underdone, and dealing with the uncertainty of returning from major surgery.
"It was weird because I wasn't confident either," he said.
"I didn't know how my shoulder would hold up.
"And when you don't have a pre-season, it's very hard to go out and perform.
"I wasn't confident, I wasn't fit, and I wasn't feeling good about myself. I was just a shell of myself."
Adding further duress was the pressure he was putting on himself to earn the respect of the blokes standing alongside him each week.
"That comes with it anyway," he said.
"You want to go out there and do your best for your teammates. They're the ones who matter most.
"So there was the pressure I was putting on myself, and that on top of lacking confidence and physical fitness, it was a bit of a hard slog."
Week by week, game by game, the front-row firebrand took small steps forward and focused on the positives.
On a couple of occasions, his frustration boiled over and Hetherington found himself in the sin-bin.
While disappointed with his momentary lapses in discipline, at least he managed to avoid any suspensions, which were a recurring issue in his formative years.
"They were just little stupid brain snaps," Hetherington said. "When you're running on the red line, in the heat of the moment, you do silly things sometimes.
"I've done a lot of work on my mind since then, and I'm confident that I know how to harness those emotions and control them.
"I'm past that stage. I'm mentally stronger and I know how to deal with it.
"You can be aggressive and competitive and play strong, but you still have to serve the team. And getting sin-binned is not serving the team."
Now the Valentine-Eleebana junior - once described by high-profile commentator Phil Gould as an "elite" talent - is confident Knights fans are going to see the best of him next season.
"I started to come good with my legs and fitness towards the back end of the season," he said.
"I was lucky enough to play in every game, and that's something I am proud of, because it's something that I've been working towards for a while now.
"Now I'm feeling as fit as I've ever been, physically and mentally. I'm feeling really good. Hopefully there's good times ahead."
Probably the best indication of how far he has come in the space of 12 months is his desire to challenge for a spot in the starting pack.
"I definitely want to start," he said. "That's where I think I play my best football, when I'm fit and healthy.
"That's a goal, but obviously it's a team game and I'll play wherever the coach thinks I best help the team."
