Late-blooming strike weapon Michael Chee Kam's self-belief has finally delivered a game-changing performance that previously only his family thought possible.
The Tigers replacement secured a NRL win for his side in the most explosive way on Thursday night with a bumping 35-metre gallop to the tryline that broke a deadlock for a rousing 22-16 victory in Brisbane.
He could hardly believe the space that opened in front him when he split Broncos defenders Payne Haas and Jack Bird before stepping inside former Kangaroos and Maroons fullback Darius Boyd for the matchwinner.
"As a kid you dream of scoring a try in the NRL but to do it to win a game is surreal," he said.
It was not his only impact on the game. Chee Kam's offload for Luke Garner's try was a beauty and he ran for 140 metres after coming on as a replacement for centre Robert Jennings.
The 27-year-old could have quit the game before realising his dream moment.
While his 2010 Australian Schoolboys peers David Klemmer and James Tedesco have forged lengthy NRL careers and achieved representative stardom, Chee Kam has played less than 60 games since his debut for Manly in 2014.
He switched to the Tigers in 2016 and has played plenty of reserve grade matches but never lost faith that he had more to offer.
The 192cm centre or backrower credited his wife Alex for keeping his spirits up during some of the testing periods of his career.
"My family and close friends kept me positive. I had a good support base who believed in me and I kept plugging away," he said.
Chee Kam is off contract at the end of this season but if he keeps performing as well as he did against the Broncos, coach Michael Maguire will be compelled to keep the strike weapon around.
"He's got a bit of X factor around him," Maguire said.
"He really adds a lot to us in those moments."
