Parramatta fullback Bevan French was 13 and kicking a football around his rural backyard when the Eels last made the NRL finals in 2009.
Now 21, he's been handed the club's No.1 jersey for the rest of the regular season, as they prepare to charge into the NRL finals.
French moved in from the wing for Parramatta's gutsy win over Brisbane on Friday night after Clint Gutherson suffered a ruptured ACL the week prior and was forced to hang up his boots for 2017.
It was the side's fifth straight win this season, a feat last achieved in their fairytale run to the 2009 NRL grand final, thanks to the efforts of then-Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne.
"I was still a young kid then, I remember it for sure," French said.
"You see that stuff as a young kid and you go out there and try to do it yourself when you play backyard rural footy.
"It was inspiring and hopefully someone in our team can stand up and do something like that this year.
"We've got players in our team that can light up the stage like that as well."
Semi Radradra, Corey Norman and Michael Jennings are the first names off his tongue.
It's a humble response given French has put the ball over the line in each of his past five games, including a 79th-minute try against the Broncos and was the Eels leading try-scorer in his rookie year of 2016.
French scored 19 tries from 13 games, beating Hayne's rookie run of 17 tries in 16 games.
He admits the responsibility of playing fullback got to him earlier this season but hard work and guidance from players like Norman, Gutherson and captain Tim Mannah got him through his issues.
"I've worked on that a bit and got all the pressure off my shoulders," French said.
"It's what got me here, just playing backyard footy and trusting my instincts."
French said the Eels have felt all year as though they would make a late season charge.
"We're not too worried about what other teams are thinking about us, we're just focused on what we want to do," he said.
"We know if we all go out there and do that we're going to be pretty tough to beat."
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