Paul Alamoti has admitted he thought his season was over when he went down injured, believing he would need to wait another 12 months to fulfil his destiny of playing in an NRL grand final.
But now the centre is 80 minutes away from premiership glory, and comes into the decider on the back of what his coach rated his best performance as a Panther.
If doubts remained as to Alamoti's ability to fill the void left by ex-Panther Stephen Crichton, he dispelled them in Saturday's defeat of Cronulla that punched Penrith's ticket to a fifth-straight grand final.
Alamoti scored the first try and then the go-ahead four-pointer in the 26-6 win that set a date with heavyweights Melbourne for next Sunday.
"I think it was Paul's best game, an all-round performance. He's had a great season," said Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.
"He came into our squad, obviously we lost 'Critta', who was a huge loss for us. His replacement, we lost him too, Taylan May. So all of a sudden 'Pauly' was the man and he's just done a great job this year."
It's been a whirlwind first season at the Panthers for Alamoti, who only became a regular fixture of the starting line-up when Penrith sacked May in the wake of criminal charges.
Alamoti also needed to overcome a broken arm that left him fearing for his season after he came off in the round-20 win over the Dolphins.
"I thought I was done for the year with my broken arm. It was just that feeling, that first thought that comes to mind," Alamoti said.
"I got a scan that day, the scan went pretty well and coach gave me confidence that I'd get back in time to string a few games together. He put a lot of trust in me to come straight back into the NRL."
Alamoti has never been short on confidence, though.
He will be among only a handful of players lining up against the Storm without grand final experience, along with Liam Henry and possibly Brad Schneider and Matt Eisenhuth.
But he always had faith he would join his Penrith teammates in the history books.
"I've dreamt of these moments. I've always believed I'd get here eventually one day," he said.
"Now that I'm here, it's like I've been here before, but I haven't. There's not much nerves, but excitement.
"But I'm still not satisfied. We've got one more game to go. I want to win a premiership. They're the reasons why you play this game, we're one step closer."
