Thomas Flegler spent almost two years on the sidelines firing blanks, but now he is back firing bullets.
The return to the State of Origin arena by the fiery Queensland prop is a tribute to an unbreakable mindset as much as it is to the wonderful care of the Dolphins staff, who helped him get back on the rugby league field in a pre-season trial this year.
The 26-year-old had spent 677 days in limbo following a serious left shoulder injury in round five of 2024.
At first he thought it was a burner.
It soon became apparent he had damaged a shoulder nerve. The initial hope was it would "come back" naturally, but it didn't. So late in 2024 he had a shoulder nerve transfer, or transplant. From there it was 15 months of waiting and hard yakka.
"We worked really hard with the Dolphins performance staff. The rehab coaches, physios and doctors put together a great rehab schedule for the years that we did it," Flegler said.
"It was a bit of trial and error because we couldn't find anyone who'd had this injury. I was kind of shooting blanks there for a second but it has worked out all right."
His Origin return for the Maroons in the 22-20 loss to NSW in game one came 1071 days after his previous Queensland match.
It was a comeback that had his colleagues in awe and included a typical charge to the tryline.
Flegler's Maroons teammate, North Queensland lock forward Reuben Cotter, had an even longer break at the start of his career with three years on the sidelines with knee surgeries.
"It is an incredibly resilient comeback by Flegs," Cotter told AAP.
"Originally we all thought it was worse than what it was. There were some question marks over whether he could even come back from it.
"He has done exceptionally well to be back playing the footy he is. It shows his character, his love for the jersey and his love for football.
"He is still the same Flegs ... runs hard and hits hard and is just so physically and mentally tough ... the sort of player you want in any team."
Flegler coped with "the uncertainty" of when or if he would return with class.
Journalists watched him for all of 2025 at Dolphins training wondering what his future held. He was the same old Flegler ... determined and stoic.
Those characteristics were born working on his family banana farm in Tully, deep in the heart of North Queensland, where the vagaries of weather and events that can't be controlled are put to the side.
It is why Flegler didn't want or expect special favours when he returned in a trial against Gold Coast in February.
He had been signed from Brisbane as a Test and Queensland prop but in his own mind that counted for nothing. Instead, he turned himself into a fitter and faster athlete to adapt to the modern game and eased his way back off the bench.
"Being out of the game that long I had some competition," Flegler said.
"I hadn't played in ages and one thing I wanted to do was come back fit and earn my spot, not just be given it for what I had done.
"We have got a great forward pack at the Dolphins and it did make it challenging at the beginning of the year when I was coming off the bench.
"I finally worked my way into the starting side. I had to work hard for that.
"There were challenges throughout the whole thing but we remained pretty optimistic about it all.
"It is easy saying now but I always knew I would get back to playing one game of NRL. Anything after that was always a bonus and it is great to be back here now."
He still runs hard and hits as hard as ever, as evidenced by his game one Origin display.
So the nerve transfer has made no difference to what his shoulder feels like?
"Not really no. It is hard to explain," he said.
"I can still do everything that a person can do with normal shoulders. I've got to be careful. No shoulder charges that is for sure.
"Obviously I have got to manage it and monitor it but it has been better than we could have asked for to be honest."
Cotter, who shares similar traits to Flegler after his own comeback, is just glad to have his mate beside him at the MCG on Wednesday night in a must-win match for the Maroons.
"I was out for three years with two knee reconstructions and the second reco took a lot longer to recover from," Cotter said.
"I took it a day at a time and tried to keep myself busy ... got a part-time job and trained most days.
"It was the same mentality as Flegs. I got to work.
"It is just exciting to play with Flegs again. You know he is going to bring that aggression."
