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WAYNE Bennett remembers traveling with Brent Tate to see a specialist about a serious neck injury in 2005 thinking worst case scenario.
Tate had been suffering from ongoing problems during the previous two years at the Broncos and at that early stage of his career the gut feeling was he would struggle to make it back.
"Absolutely," Bennett recalled.
"If we couldn't find a way to right it then it was career finished.
"He was suffering from whiplash.
"I remember going with him to a specialist because there was a decision to be made and he wanted me to be there with him.
"So we went to the specialist together and the decision was made after that meeting that he would try the neck brace and it worked, thank God."
Fast forward eight years and Tate is still going strong.
Neck injuries, knee injuries, a busted jaw, a broken shoulder, Tate has experienced enough problems over his time to end 10 careers, yet every time he picks himself up and comes back better than ever.
To the point where he must surely be regarded now as the NRL's most inspirational player for all the adversity he has overcome to be standing where he is today — on the doorstep of a World Cup dream come true.
The Kangaroos fly out to England on Monday and Tate doesn't hide the fact that Justin Hodges' vacant right centre position is what he will be chasing on tour.
"I want to be there absolutely," the 31-year-old said.
"I don't just want to go over there and play a couple of games.
"I want to be a part of the team.
"I will be doing everything I can to get in there.
"You know, I honestly can't believe I'm here.
"I was just sitting down before and thinking to myself, shit.
"I just love being here."
And blokes like Bennett can't help but marvel at his tenacity and courage.
"That's the thing," Bennett explained. "You have the injuries but some guys never reach that kind of level again.
"But he gets better every time, he is never going backwards.
"I only spoke to him recently after the Cowboys played Cronulla (when North Queensland were controversially knocked out of the finals).
"I asked him if they picked him for the tour would he go?
"And he said he would.
"I said I thought it was a wonderful idea.
"I can still see the Australian game (in 2010) when he did the cruciate. I can still see those scenes in the change rooms (when Tate broke down in tears in full view of the TV cameras).
"That was heartbreaking stuff.
"Then you have to go through all that rehab.
"That's the difficult part.
"It's not that the rehab is hard, it's the loneliness of it all.
"The amount you have to do by yourself.
"You are not in a group, you are always by yourself.
"And he has done it every time.
"He's talked about retirement more than once but he keeps coming back and he keeps playing wonderfully.
"He has fought back through it all and played brave.
"You can certainly say that about him.
"He is a brave player."
One of the bravest our game has ever seen.
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