First game of reserve grade in a decade.
Second time warming up for a grand final, only to watch his teammates win from the sidelines.
And as Ryan Hall prepares for his first game of rugby league Nines at any level, the affable Englishman is looking at making his move Down Under permanent.
Hall's debut NRL season hardly went to plan for one of Super League's finest ever finishers, with injuries and the Roosters' backline depth limiting him to just six first grade games.
The 31-year-old will return to English colours for his first game in a month; he last played for feeder side North Sydney as Daniel Tupou and Brett Morris starred on the Roosters' flanks through a triumphant Telstra Premiership finals run.
"2009 maybe?" Hall offers on his previous reserve grade outing before this year.
Having worked his way back from an ACL rupture in one knee, only to then dislocate the other, Hall was at the ready if the Roosters needed him on grand final day.
"I was pitchside, jumping up and down," he recalls of the thrilling win over Canberra.
Nine players to watch at the World Cup 9s
"It was a great atmosphere and the boys dug in.
"It's difficult. But it's part of what you do. My job all week being 18th man was to support the team, put on a smile, get some energy going around the lads and I think I did that, they ended up winning.
"But I've experienced it before. 2007, my first year I was a youngster coming through and I was an 18th man in a grand final again back in England. We won that one as well so I must be a good luck charm."
Hall accepts he could well struggle for a start in 2020 given the superb form of Tupou and Morris throughout this year's finals.
He is contracted with the Tricolours for next year and has a mutual option for 2021.
The English veteran hasn't ruled out finishing his career in Super League, but regardless his wife Vicky is already making plans for when he eventually hangs up the boots.
"My missus has done a u-turn since we first came out," Hall says.
"When we first came out she was a bit like 'I don't know what to expect' because she's a home bird.
"But six months into the year she said 'right, that's it. After you finish playing you need to find a job, we're living over here'.
"[So I said] 'alright, ok, whatever you want'.
"I've kind of set things up to go back home before I moved out but things can change.
"[Sydney] is a great place to live. I love where I'm from, I love my country. Every time I play for my country I'm as proud as anyone but there's no denying it's a beautiful scene out here and it's a great lifestyle."
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