When Tanah Boyd graduated Keebra Park High School with a national schoolboy cup title, and an Australian Schoolboys jersey, the rugby league world was at his feet.
A prodigiously talented halfback and five-eighth, Boyd, who was born in Penrith but grew up on the Gold Coast, came through one of Australia's greatest rugby league nurseries at around the same time as Tom Dearden and Cory Paix.
Of the trio, many judges had Boyd rated as the best of the three.
Dearden is now a Queensland State of Origin star, having just won the Wally Lewis Medal for player of the series, while Paix has transitioned into a dummy half where he has struggled for opportunities at the Broncos.
Dearden's departure to the North Queensland Cowboys will forever haunt the Broncos, but for a long while, it has looked as if Boyd's departure to the Gold Coast Titans was the correct decision.
Despite being part of junior Origin sides on his way through, his enormous potential simply never shone through at the Gold Coast Titans, where he played the first 69 games of his NRL career between 2019 and 2024.
Some of that is not all Boyd's fault of course.
Watch the discussion about Boyd and the Warriors on The Loose Carry Podcast
The Titans have been something of a basket case for much of their existence in the NRL, and between 2019 and 2024, the club finished last, ninth, eighth, thirteenth, fourteenth and then fourteenth again.
2025, with Boyd departing for the Warriors, hasn't exactly seen things turn a corner, with Des Hasler's side the almost unbackable favourites to claim the wooden spoon.
It will likely see another change of coach on the glitter strip as club powerbrokers look for a winning solution - one they have never found outside of 2009 and 2010 where they made their only two forays into the top four since joining the NRL in 2007.
With that all being the case, maybe it doesn't actually come as that much of a shock that Boyd couldn't find his feet on the Gold Coast.
It's something the halfback - now 24 years of age - seemed to realise as well, giving up his contract on the Gold Coast to take a risk and move to Auckland ahead of the 2025 season.
He was certainly in the mix for a spot in the halves in Round 1, but was sensationally overlooked when Luke Metcalf was shuffled into the number seven jersey.
The call from Andrew Webster was a gutsy one at the time given Metcalf's excellent performances as the club's five-eighth (when fit) over the previous seasons, but it's one that has paid off.
Metcalf has been excellent all season long, guiding the Warriors into the top four.
But then disaster struck. His ACL blew out, and for what feels like the umpteenth time in his career, he will begin another long road to recovery.
But where one man has the anguish of another long-term injury, another has an opportunity, and for Tanah Boyd, the chance to make something of his career is right now.
It can't be overstated exactly how important the next two to three months are for the former Titan.
Off-contract at the end of 2026, Boyd has a limited amount of time to impress. Metcalf will fight to be fit for Round 1 next year, but even if he misses the season-opener, he won't be far away. Once he is fit, he plays, too. There is no doubt about that.
It means Boyd could again find himself in reserve grade - a competition he is realistically far too good to be playing in.
His time at the Warriors, you'd have to assume, is going to be limited to a two-year run unless the club lose Metcalf, but with the Perth Bears coming into the NRL in 2027, and other clubs looking for halves, Boyd has a chance to realise his enormous potential in a system that knows how to win.
He is certainly good enough to keep the Warriors firing along towards the finals.
He proved that last weekend against the Wests Tigers in his first NRL game for the year, keeping the Warriors on the straight and narrow in what was a pretty impressive victory.
Things will get tougher this week as the Warriors - still also missing fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad - face the Newcastle Knights on the road.
Not that the Knights have been going well, but Adam O'Brien's side know how to get down in the trenches and defend.
It's another crucial game for Boyd as he comes to grips with the Warriors' system. After that, they go up against the Dolphins, the Bulldogs, the Dragons, the Titans, the Eels and the Sea Eagles through to the end of the year.
That's a mixed run home with some tough games, but the Warriors should be on track for a top-four finish.
If Boyd can play with form, with style, and more importantly, with control, he will keep them there, but also put himself in the shop window come November 1.
He won't likely do anything better than Metcalf, but if he can be at the same level, rival clubs, including the Perth Bears, are going to sit up and take notice around him being a possible addition to their side in 2027.
Boyd will be the player to follow over the final two months of the season, and his rugby league future, well, it's in his hands.
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