On Friday night at BlueBet Stadium, all eyes will be on the likes of James Tedesco, Jarome Luai, Spencer Leniu and Nathan Cleary, but a lesser-known Zach Dockar-Clay will enter the match with one of the most extraordinary journeys out of anyone competing.
In less than 12 hours, Zach Dockar-Clay will run out onto the field in his first NRL Finals match, an event that was close to not transpiring after he admitted to nearly retiring from the game several times throughout his career.
"Pretty close," he toldย Zero Tackleย when asked how close he came to hanging up the boots on his NRL career before tonight's match.
"Getting an NRL contract these days is so hard, and I had a young daughter and needed to make a living, and sometimes it's hard to find these training contracts to make a living.
"I definitely thought that the end was pretty close but ended up telling myself (and) my wife, I'll give it one more shot, and here we are playing finals footy."
Beginning his journey at the Parramatta Eels, Dockar-Clay would find himself at the Penrith Panthers for two seasons in 2016 and 2017 - the team he will face on Friday evening - playing alongside the likes of Moses Leota and James Fisher-Harris.
Captaining the club's NSW Cup team, it seemed that he was destined for big things at the club but would find himself surpassed by Mitch Kenny, Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary - all three will be on the opposite side of the field come Friday.
"I played with the majority of the boys that are there," he added.
"I grew up playing with Fish [James Fisher-Harris], and Moses [Leota] was there as well in our Cup team and then Nathan [Cleary] and [Jarome] Luai and all those guys were coming through a bit younger than me.
"I'm definitely keen to get out there and play and soak it all in during the week and hopefully be on the right end of the winning scoreboard at the end of the game."
Moving over to play in the Super League competition for Hull KR in 2017, he spent the following four years plying his trade in the NSW Cup.
When he was about to call quits on his career and thought about only playing part-time, Dockar-Clay wasย picked up by the Canterbury Bulldogs for the 2022 NRL season and appeared in 14 appearances before once again thinking about retirement.
As he slowly enters the 30-year-old age bracket, he earned a Top 30 roster spot with the Sydney Roosters after an impressive season for the North Sydney Bears in 2023.
"There's been heaps of stop-starts. There's been so many times where I thought this is probably it - I'm just going to be part-time, and I might just be doing (NSW) Cup for the rest of my life," he told Zero Tackle.
"Honestly, it's the credit to the clubs and credit to myself to be putting in that hard work and get back to where I am, but definitely there's been times where I just thought ', this is it I'm not going to play'.
"Then I was fortunate enough to play at the Dogs, made my debut, and even then I was happy, and then after that season, same again, I was back at the Bears, and I was training part-time, and I thought it could be over.
Chosen to replace Connor Watson and Sandon Smith in the utility role off the interchange bench after the duo will enter the starting team due to injuries to Brandon Smith and Sam Walker, Dockar-Clay credits his family for helping him maintain his journey.
"Massive," he continued when asked on the importance of his partner throughout this rough journey into the 2024 NRL Finals.
"Been around the world with me and travelled overseas with me and here at the Roosters and not having the financial freedom or some of the bigger contract, my partner's hard to work so she's been massive.
"Hopefully, I get to pay them back at some point."
The Sydney Roosters will face their toughest test on Friday to kick off the 2024 NRL Finals as they take on the defending premiers in the Panthers' final match at their home stadium for over 12 months.
Not only do the Roosters have a terrible record against the three-time reigning premiers over the past four seasons but will have have to do it without the services of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Sam Walker, Brandon Smith and Victor Radley.
