With the NRL heading into the final five rounds of the regular season and the top eight battle heating up, we thought we would take a look at the top 5 players who have made a resurgence this season following an injury-riddled or just plain average previous season.
3. Sandor Earl
After showing great promise in his early career, scoring 23 tries across 48 appearances with the Roosters, Panthers, and Raiders, in late 2013 Sandor Earl was handed a four-year ban from the NRL by ASADA for the use and trafficking of drugs.
After the conclusion of that four-year suspension, in which Earl kept himself in remarkably good shape, the Melbourne Storm threw him a lifeline in the form of a one-year contract for the 2017 season. Unfortunately, and typically for the luckless Earl, less than a month after signing on the dotted line it was revealed that he had torn his ACL during pre-season training and would miss the entirety of the 2017 season.
However, in a sign of good faith from the Storm, they immediately offered him a two-year extension due to how the Roosters junior conducted himself upon his return to the NRL after his four-year hiatus.
Having started the year impressively in reserve grade, Earl was given his opportunity in round 5 against the Cowboys, 2056 days after his last NRL appearance and nearly ten years since his NRL debut with the Roosters.
Earl has gone onto feature sporadically for the Storm registering one try in his four appearances, performing admirably whenever one of the Storms star wingers Josh Addo-Carr or Suliasi Vunivalu are unavailable.
While his past is no doubt chequered, Earl's dedication and aspiration to once again play NRL is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
