Almost seven years after Greg Inglis's famous flickback in the Centenary Anzac Test against New Zealand, Wests Tigers winger Kevin Naiqama almost topped the effort during Wests Tigers' 38-14 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night.
WATCH: Naiqama's miracle pass
"I don't think mine was anywhere near that. I think his was more acrobatic than mine. But it was just real lucky to pull it off and get the try in the end," Naiqama told NRL.com post-game.
Naiqama kick-started the match with a pearler, throwing himself over the deadball line for a dying James Tedesco grubber in the 5th minute and flicking it back inside for the Wests Tigers fullback to score.
While it wasn't quite a mirror-image of Inglis' toss back to Mark Gasnier in 2008, a vertical Naiqama was also outside the field of play and showed the same desperation to keep the ball alive.
"And that's what you get," skipper Robbie Farah said. "When you don't give up on a play, you allow yourself to come up with those sorts of plays. It's a credit to him. Keep going to the death."
Not content with an early-season contender for try of the year, Naiqama chased down another heavy Tedesco grubber in the 24th that looked destined to go dead in-goal.
The 26-year-old also set up Tedesco's second try of the night with a 40-metre bust in the second half to complete a memorable week for the former Panther.
Not only did he sign a two-year contract extension with the Tigers just last week, but he extended a career that was headed for the scrapheap.
After having failed to crack Penrith's top 17 last season, Naiqama put himself on the open market but had no takers.
"I sort of came to a crossroads. I was lost for a moment, I didn't know what I was going to do. It's a real cut-throat business when you think about it like that. If you got nothing in the end, it's pretty much back to work," he said.
In the end the Tigers threw him a lifeline, but Naiqama knew that he would again be playing behind an established wing pairing.
"It was real hard, because [David] Nofoaluma's a really good player. I think him and Patty Richards had the wing spots. So in pre-season I took it upon myself to work hard every day, and just do everything I can," he said.
So concerned was he about his future, the ex-Knight enrolled in a part-time course.
"I'm doing some courses this year and got the ball rolling on that. In two weeks I start a diploma in sport business," he said.
"I'm just looking forward to doing some courses like education, because obviously football doesn't last forever. But I'm really happy with where I am at the moment."
So impressive has Naiqama been since arriving in Concord last October, that coach Jason Taylor described him as being one of the club's best over the first two months of the year.
"We talked in the pre-season, he talked about the fact that he'd been to a few clubs and he wanted to cement a position in the NRL," he said.
"He said that with his actions as well. From the first day of pre-season, he's ticked every single box. He's really committed, and you could argue he's been our best player over the course of the season so far."
