When Canterbury splashed out for a budding halfback by the name of Trent Hodkinson in mid-2010 they hoped they were signing the new Brett Kimmorley.
At 21, the fresh-faced No.7 had enjoyed a meteoric rise at Manly, thrust into a City Origin debut after only six first-grade games under the guidance of Des Hasler at the Sea Eagles. The Dogs reached into their pockets and forked out $270,000 a season over three years.
The script did not go exactly to plan for Hodkinson but it appears Canterbury are finally seeing the player they invested in.
The 25-year-old has been key in the second-placed Bulldogs extending their run of wins to three as they approach the Good Friday showdown with South Sydney at ANZ Stadium, a contest that last year attracted a crowd of more than 50,000.
He is also emerging as the club's iceman under pressure, throwing a composed last pass that allowed halves partner Josh Reynolds to pot a winning field goal against the Roosters in round five before slotting a match-levelling penalty goal, and then a clutch one-pointer of his own, in the thrilling come-from-behind defeat of the Warriors at the weekend.
If teammates' hearts have been left racing by the successive one-point margins, the halfback seems to have taken the drama in his stride.
"(My heart) was probably beating a bit faster than Trent's," said Bulldogs centre Josh Morris on Wednesday. "He seems to be pretty cool under pressure."
Hodkinson's form this season, his best since arriving at Belmore, has won unprompted praise from NSW Origin coach Laurie Daley, who noted how impressed he had been by the playmaker in a radio interview last week.
That doesn't mean he is destined for an Origin debut next month – Mitchell Pearce enjoys Daley's endorsement despite the premiers' indifferent start to their title defence.
However, his coming of age at Belmore can only have pleased Hasler – the coach who let him go from Manly, knowing that another half called Daly Cherry-Evans was on the production line.
After a promising start at the Dogs in 2011, when he played 22 of 24 matches, a chronic knee injury and shoulder reconstructions cruelly served to plague Hodkinson's desire to be the natural long-term successor to Kimmorley, the ex-Test half who finished his career at the Bulldogs.
It was instead the unlikely pairing of Reynolds and Kris Keating that featured in Canterbury's drive to the grand final in 2012 and while Hodkinson forced his way back to play 20 games last season it's only now that he is reaching the heights the Bulldogs, then coached by Kevin Moore, had in mind when they pinched him from Manly.
"I think it's just that full pre-season he got under his belt," Morris said. "He had a horrid run there with injuries. He's my roomie whenever we go (to away games) and I spoke to him about that.
"His confidence was down and it does take a strong person to get through those injuries that he had. He wanted to get a full pre-season under his belt and you can see the benefits of it."
Centre Tim Lafai added: "Just to be able to stay in first-grade and string games together has got his confidence up, whereas in previous years he's had problems with injury. The longer we can keep him on the field the better he'll get.
"He's so strong in defence, it's very hard to find halfbacks who are that good in defence, and his kicking game also has been good for us. Things like that go a long way toward winning games. He's very cool and calm too ... even with kicks from the sideline when we need them, he's just too cool."
