'Like I've been here before': Alamoti repaying Ivan's show of faith

Panthers rookie Paul Alamoti always felt he was destined to play on the NRL’s biggest stage but the 20-year-old centre feared a broken arm had put his premiership dream on hold this season.

Alamoti, who hopes to represent his Tongan heritage at the end-of-season Pacific Championships, returned in NSW Cup two weeks before the finals and was thrust into the NRL in a show of faith by Penrith coach Ivan Cleary.

The Bulldogs junior repaid that faith in Saturday night’s 26-6 preliminary final defeat of the Sharks by scoring two tries in a performance Cleary described as Alamoti’s best since joining the club this year.

“I have always dreamed of these moments,” Alamoti said. “I have always believed that I would end up getting here eventually one day. Now that I’m here, it's like I've been here before - but I haven't.”

Raised by his Tonga-born father and grandmother after losing his mother to cancer at a young age, Alamoti has long been tipped as a future NRL star, with former Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett wanting to debut him before his 18th birthday.

After playing 19 NRL matches last year in his rookie season, Alamoti was granted a release by the Bulldogs to join Penrith and is now living up to the expectations Barrett and others had of him.

“I guess so, but I'm still not satisfied,” he said when asked if he was fulfilling the potential many believed he had.

“I’ve got one more game to go, I want to win a premiership ring. They're the reasons why you play this game, and I am one step closer.”

If the Panthers achieve an historic four-peat by beating the Storm next Sunday night, Alamoti will dedicate his first NRL premiership to his father, Soane, who raised him after his mother, Nita, passed away when he was just seven years old.

“My old man is the main reason why I play this game,” Alamoti said. “I am one of four kids, and he was a single parent raising us, so a lot of credit goes to him and my grandmother who passed away a couple of years ago.

“They are the reason why I play, and they are the reason why I'm here.”

Yet Alamoti feared he would have to wait for a chance at premiership glory after breaking his arm in the Round 20 match against the Dolphins.

Alamoti spent six weeks on the sidelines and returned in the NSW Cup against Canberra before being recalled to the NRL side at left centre.

“I thought I was done for the year with the broken arm,” he said. “That was the first that comes to mind.

“But the coach gave me confidence that I’d get back in time to string a few games together and he put a lot of trust in me to come straight back into the NRL.

“That was a massive boost for myself, just knowing that my head coach puts a lot of trust in me, and he believes in me by putting me back into the team.

“He gave me a little stint in the NSW Cup just to get some minutes in and a bit of match fitness, and then the following week I came back into the NRL.

"It gives me great confidence knowing that he's got my back and that I have his trust.”