Francis Manuleleua was mowing the grass outside Penrith's centre of excellence not long ago; now, at 22, he is preparing for the NRL grand final after 14 first-grade games.
His hard-hitting partnership with Jermaine McEwen has helped Newcastle reach Sunday's decider against the Sydney Roosters.
McEwen, 21, played at the Koori Knockout on last year's grand final weekend and has 39 first-grade games to his name.
He showed no fear of Penrith forward Moses Leota during Newcastle's gruelling win over the Panthers.
Manuleleua scored the opening try in last week's preliminary final and made a try-saving tackle on Brian To'o.
Asked about a nickname, the pair rejected comparisons with Penrith's Moses Leota and James Fisher-Harris, known as "The Bash Brothers".
"We don't want to be called the Bash Brothers, because that's already taken, we've got to figure something out," said McEwen.
Manuleleua preferred another suggestion: "The Bruise Crew, I like that one," he said.
"You probably don't want to hang around us too much because we just muck around too much," Manuleleua said.
"But when it comes to training and game day, we flick that switch and we're just ready to bang."
The pair room together, and McEwen hopes they will play alongside each other for Samoa at the World Cup.
"We both lean on each other a lot with each other's energy," McEwen said.
"I was always burning energy thinking about the game and he's just a chill guy, but on gameday he's a beast, bro.
"We just love playing with each other because you bring that energy and want to go out there and bang."