Dragons winger Jordan Pereira insists he's buried the demons from a freak injury and won't hesitate to launch himself for the tryline once more against the Wests Tigers.
Pereira has been named in the No.2 jumper for the round one clash at WIN Stadium on Sunday evening in what will be his first NRL appearance since being dropped after round 11 last year.
The 26-year-old landed awkwardly while diving for a try in the corner during a Canterbury Cup match in July, causing brachial plexus damage which has slightly weakened his right arm.
But Pereira, who said there were fears he could have lost his arm, claims he has no doubts ahead of his Telstra Premiership return.
"If the same situation happens where I know I'm going to be put in that same position [as when he was injured] again, I'm still going to do it," said Pereira, who has notched eight tries in 20 NRL games.
"It's my job to put the ball on the try-line and whatever means necessary to do so, I'm willing to put my body on the line."
Dragons v Wests Tigers - Round 1
Pereira played in the Canterbury Cup preliminary final but said it "didn't really count" because he wasn't fully fit.
He made a statement with four tries against Newcastle in a trial last month, however, and said he was awash with excitement and relief after a spectacular diving finish in the second half.
"Now that that's out the way, I don't think I'll think about it from then on," Pereira said.
The affable New Zealander is confident he'll be an improved player this year following a productive summer of training.
"Honestly, this has been my favourite pre-season that I've ever had," Pereira said.
"I enjoy learning things and the previous pre-seasons that I've had I've been given lots of information but it didn't sink in as deep as it has this pre-season.
"The game's just started to slow down for me and I'm able to read defences a lot better and position myself better in attack."
Meanwhile, Blake Lawrie is set to start at lock after edging out prodigal son Trent Merrin, who is named on the bench.
Teammates have raved about Lawrie's pre-season efforts and the promising 23-year-old is determined to make a bigger impact this year having benefited from playing 23 matches in 2019.
"I want to take my game to the next level and be more of a force for our team going forward and hopefully I can do that after the pre-season that we've had," Lawrie said.
Lawrie said Merrin's return to the club had been a huge positive.
"He's a character in this team, he's someone that you need in this team environment for our culture and all that stuff … He's great for our morale," Lawrie said of the 30-year-old veteran.
"I didn't have much to do with Mez beforehand but since he's come I've got nothing but good words for him."
Merrin, a former NSW and Australian representative and a fellow local junior, can assist with Lawrie's development.
One thing Lawrie eventually aims to emulate is Merrin's offloading and ball-playing ability.
"Obviously I've got to try and extend my minutes for me to do that. The back-end of last year all I was doing was playing the first sort of 20 minutes in the grindy sort of stuff," Lawrie said.
"Hopefully I can extend my minutes on the playing field and develop a few more skills and learn a couple off him."
