For James Tedesco, saying sorry to Canberra NRL coach Ricky Stuart was the hardest thing he has done.
Stuart was the first person Tedesco called after deciding last week to turn his back on a big money move to the Raiders to remain with the Wests Tigers.
But the boom fullback admits it took him a while to summon the courage to punch Stuart's number into his phone.
"Breaking it to Ricky was the hardest thing to do," Tedesco said at Tigers training on Tuesday.
"I spoke to him and went down there and said I was excited about coming and then - to make the decision to not go down there - it was very hard to do.
"It took me a while to build up the courage. I was very apologetic to him.
"It was probably the hardest decision of my life - it was very stressful leading up to it.
"I did it all myself. I didn't speak to my manager about it. I just knew what I had to do; I knew the decision that I had to make.
"Ricky was disappointed and you expect that.
"I told him I was keen to go there but, in my heart, I couldn't leave the boys and I couldn't leave the club and I hope he understands that.
"Obviously, I got a bit of backlash but you have to expect that."
Tedesco took the field for the first time in the Tigers' dramatic round-13 win over Newcastle on Sunday since injuring his ankle in round three and said he was glad the saga was behind him.
"To get it all done and just get out there on the weekend and play football was great," Tedesco said.
"It wasn't something that was planned, all this commotion.
"I'm hoping next time to get through the contract stuff quickly and not go through all this.
"I'm ready now to concentrate on football.
"I probably made that decision too quickly and then tried to convince myself it was right for me.
"Obviously, the boys wanted me to stay - that was a big thing for me.
"That was the big consideration."
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