Four years after finding himself washing vegetables in a Sydney kitchen with his NRL career looking dead and buried Jake Friend is now a key player in the Sydney Roosters' quest for a first premiership in 11 years.
After one too many alcohol-fuelled incidents Friend had his contract torn up by the club in 2009 only to be given a second-chance six months later thanks to the support of a long-time sponsor of the club who gave him a job in his cafe.
And it's there where it dawned on the Queenslander that he was in danger of throwing away a golden opportunity to make a living out of playing rugby league.
"It's good to be in this position, in a winning team. I'd rather be here than on a work site digging holes or something like that," Friend said.
"I'm just glad to be playing footy and that everything worked out.
"When I was down at Jimmy's cafe, out the back chopping carrots and all sorts of stuff, it was a bit of an eye-opener.
"It really woke me up to the fact that I want footy and I miss footy."
The Roosters sit in second spot on the ladder and have the chance on Friday to climb above South Sydney, who play on Saturday in Townsville against North Queensland, with a win over Penrith.
Friend was named man of the match in last Sunday's bruising win over Newcastle and said his improvement this year is largely down to the coaching of Trent Robinson.
Under the guidance of Robinson, the burly hooker has added an attacking dimension to his game that was often lacking and now rotates the role with Daniel Mortimer which has kept him fresher.
"Having Morts on the bench has helped me a lot," he said.
"I'm only playing 55-60 minutes. I think that's helped with my workload. I feel a lot fresher in attack sets.
"The area that I wanted to work most on was my attack, I want to keep improving but I've been happy the way I've been going."
The Roosters will be without Sonny Bill Williams due to suspension in a game that will see Michael Jennings return to Centrebet Stadium since for the first time since his departure at the end of last season.
The NSW centre scored twice when the sides met earlier this season with the Roosters running out 30-6 winners.
Penrith have no fresh injury concerns but must win the game to keep alive any genuine hope of reaching the finals and are without winger Brad Tighe and key forwards Matt Robinson and Nigel Plum due to injury.
