Fremantle's Ryan Nyhuis had never played as a forward before making his AFL debut on Sunday.
But after booting four majors - including the match-winner - in the Dockers' nailbiting four-point win over North Melbourne, he could get used to life as a goal-kicker.
Taken by Fremantle in the 2015 rookie draft, the 20-year-old had played mostly as a lockdown defender for WAFL affiliate Peel Thunder.
However when former skipper David Mundy pulled out of Sunday's game at Etihad Stadium with the flu, coach Ross Lyon decided the best solution was to throw Nyhuis forward.
"It was the first time in my life I had played forward, basically," Nyhuis told Fox Footy after the game.
"Ross threw me a curve ball. It was great to be able to do the job."
Nyhuis' fourth-quarter heroics helped the Dockers snap a five-game losing streak to climb to 12th on the ladder.
After trailing for three and a half quarters, North took the lead with 10 minutes remaining when spearhead Ben Brown booted his fourth major.
Nyhuis cut the margin back to a point with a tough goal under pressure from deep in the forward pocket.
The NT Thunder product then turned match-winner with a set-shot floater which put the Dockers ahead by six points, before Todd Goldstein's missed set shot sealed North's fate.
Dockers coach Lyon said he was rapt with the reward for Nyhuis after plenty of hard work in the reserves.
"We flagged last night at the team meeting that Mundy was crook and we'd give him until this morning," Lyon said.
"He rang his parents the night before and said 'I'm 70-30 (to be named)', so 12 of them jumped on a plane from the NT and flew down.
"They worked the odds pretty well."
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