In the absence of their Kangaroos stars, Jack de Belin had hoped to lead by example at St George Illawarra pre-season training.
Sadly the popular lock has shown the Dragons youngsters what not to do after breaking his wrist in a freak accident.
The NSW Country Origin forward is expected to be fit for the NRL pre-season trials despite recently undergoing surgery to insert a pin in his left wrist.
"I was doing a drill the other day and I literally fell over awkwardly and stuck my wrist out," de Belin told Dragons TV.
"We didn't know what happened and the scans came back not indicating anything but it still felt funny.
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"I went back for another one and this time it came back with a fractured scaphoid (wrist) which required surgery."
The 25-year-old will miss contact work for a month upon his return to pre-season training.
De Belin joked that maybe he had passed on one valuable lesson to the Dragons youngsters - the right time to get injured.
"There will still be plenty of time to get ready for the season," he said.
"It is a good time to do it given it is the pre-season.
"I have been loading the legs with cardiovascular work but not able to do ball skills or wrestling, but with time I will be able to ease back into both of those."
De Belin still hoped he had inspired the troops in the absence of the NRL club's Kangaroos stars Josh Dugan and Tyson Frizell.
"I still see myself as one of the younger fellas but when I look around I find there are not that many people who have been around as long as me," said the 104-game Dragon.
"It's weird in that sense.
"I feel like I have gone into a leadership role."
