Coby Black could finally get his long-awaited NRL debut this weekend after being named in jersey number 18 for the Canberra Raiders, but the young halfback admits he never expected his career path would lead him to the nation's capital.
With Ethan Strange away in State of Origin camp, Black is firmly in the mix to earn a first-grade opportunity should coach Ricky Stuart opt to rest either Ethan Sanders or Daine Laurie.
The potential debut comes almost six months after the 20-year-old made the difficult decision to leave the Brisbane Broncos, a move that left him with a point to prove.
From the moment Black arrived in Canberra, Stuart saw something special.
“My wife Kaylie and I took Coby out for a game of golf when he got here, and you could tell how respectful he was,” Stuart told the Daily Telegraph.
“But I don't need him playing off a low handicap (laughs), I need him playing good football.
“Coby is still very young and has a lot of development in front of him, but he is really starting to find his feet.
“He is a great fella that obviously comes from a good family, and he has really settled into Canberra.
“We try to make our players feel comfortable and fall into the lifestyle here, and he has taken it with both hands.
“He is taking everything on and is enjoyable to coach. He is happy to take risks on the field and has an elite kicking game.
“I've told him I want him to be crankier. Over the last month, he has really started to take the game on, and the form he has been in is what gives coaches confidence he can play NRL.”
However, Black never expected to be playing under Stuart, having joined the club at 15 and long touted as Adam Reynolds' replacement, he believed he would wear the Broncos jersey on debut.
“I didn't ever see myself leaving the Broncos,” Black told the Daily Telegraph.
“I still had another year left at Brisbane, and then they went and bought Pezet in the off-season. They had (Tom) Duffy and bought Pezet on what we assumed was big coin.
“I was sort of pissed off because you hear things like ‘you're a good chance of being the next half'.
“Nothing's ever promised in footy. Everyone has to earn their spot.
“Everyone promises you the world, and no one can ever give it to you. It's a bit annoying in that sense.
“For both parties, it was a good decision to break away.”
Black developed strong relationships with former coach Kevin Walters and veteran Adam Reynolds, however the introduction of Michael Maguire rocked the boat.
“When Kev was there, I was getting really good feedback, and it was really good,” he said.
“Then ‘Madge' (Maguire) came along and obviously different coaches, different plans … I was getting mixed messages and juggling what feedback to actually listen to.
“My manager had been tipped up on (Pezet signing) through the grapevine, and he'd given me a bit of early notice that it could be happening.
“I was prepared for the news to come out, but it was still a shock that it actually happened.
“I hadn't been told by anyone from the club or anything, which is probably what hurt me more.
“If they had told me first, we're going in this direction, and you're still a chance, or ‘we don't want you at the club' … any sort of message would have been nice.
“That's footy at the end of the day.”
The disappointment of leaving Brisbane quickly gave way to excitement when Stuart came calling.
“To hear from someone like Ricky, who's such a big figure in footy, was great,” Black said.
“To learn under another halfback … I had ‘Kevvie' at Bronx, and then to hear Ricky Stuart wants you is pretty cool.
“I'm not even a New South Wales supporter, but you see what he did for the Blues and what he did for Canberra.
“It's a bit hard when they're from another era, but you can still appreciate what he's done in the game.
“He's very loyal. You know exactly what you're going to get out of ‘Stick', and that's a really cool thing. He's one of the best mentors in footy and a really good people's coach as well.
“Canberra is everyone's second-favourite team. You watch their game and can see the way they fight to last minute of each game, no matter the score.
“I wanted to be part of Canberra. It's been unreal here.”
While many could wonder why Black has not featured earlier this season, he has been battling a serious neck injury suffered on the opening day of official pre-season training.
“I took a hit at training and felt something down the back of my neck,” Black said.
“My neck stiffened up, and I lost all my strength in my whole left side of my body. It carried on for the whole pre-season. I couldn't turn my head without spinning my whole body.
“We tried a few different things, and not a lot was working, but the physios were really good and triggered a reaction at the same time as I got a cortisone shot in it.
“I wouldn't even call it a setback – it's a growth area. You grow from everything that happens in footy.
“It wasn't great timing, but it gave me time to work on myself and my body, and I feel like I'm starting to get the benefits from that.”
Now fit and consistently showing up weekly in the NSW Cup, Black says the departure from the Broncos is a factor in his drive.
“It is an added motivation, but it's definitely not the only motivation,” Black said.
“I'm pretty strong in believing that I'm a decent player. I'm confident in my own ability.
“I feel like I've matured. At the start of the year, I was down because of injuries and blaming everything around me other than myself for my performances.
“In the last month, I've looked at my performances and said, ‘It's not good enough. You've got to do something to change it'.
“Stick was really good about it, and that flicked a switch in my brain, and I said, ‘Okay, they bought me, and I need to give back to them'.
“I just wanted an opportunity, to be honest.”
That opportunity could finally arrive this weekend.
If Stuart decides to hand the Queensland product his first-grade debut, it would mark a deserved reward for one of the game's most highly rated young halves.
Black and the Raiders will travel to Sydney this Saturday to come up against a struggling Parramatta Eels.
