Jayden Nikorima’s return to the NRL ranks after a hiatus of more than six years in Round 16 saw him add to the rich premiership narrative of players coming in from the first-grade wilderness through the decades.
Robert Graves
Rugby union Test forward Graves was prominent among the first wave of disgruntled amateur players that led to the birth of rugby league in Australia. Balmain’s inaugural captain-coach in 1908, Graves played all three Tests against the famed New Zealand All Golds that year.
The respected back-rower toured with the pioneering Kangaroos at the end of the season and skippered Australia to a series-clinching victory over New Zealand in 1909. Graves hung up the boots after six seasons in charge at Balmain and was awarded a NSWRL Life Membership in 1914.
But he returned to the field as a 35-year-old in 1919 to play seven games for Annandale, helping alleviate the player shortage caused by the influenza epidemic in post-WWI Sydney.
Ken Thornett
Another union convert Thornett, became known as ‘The Mayor of Parramatta’ and one of the greatest fullbacks of all time during seven seasons with the Eels, steering the long-suffering club to its maiden finals series in his initial 1962 campaign.
A 12-Test representative and 1963-64 Kangaroo in an era brimming with magnificent custodians, Thornett moved to northwest NSW at the end of 1968 to become a farmer.
But he answered the call from struggling Parramatta three years later and the 33-year-old skippered the previous season’s wooden spooners to the 1971 playoffs before retiring for good. The Eels’ Player of the Year award is named in honour of the champion custodian.
Kevin Gibson
A highly-touted St George prospect, Gibson debuted as a replacement in a 1968 finals match against Easts, aged just 17. But an international-stacked South Sydney forward pack – including renowned enforcers John O’Neill and John Sattler – left the youngster battered and bloodied in a pre-season encounter the following season.
Gibson finally resurfaced at first-grade level in 1975, featuring in five games for Cronulla. He played one further game in the top flight for the Dragons in ’76.
Larry Corowa
Indigenous flyer Corowa hit the headlines in 1977 after scoring five tries for Monaro against touring Great Britain. Joining Balmain the following season, he topped the premiership’s tryscoring charts with 24 and toured with the Kangaroos.
Corowa scored 64 tries in 98 games for the Tigers but the crowd favourite left Sydney the end of 1983 for a successful stint in country football on the Gold Coast.
The 33-year-old was coaxed out of a three-year retirement by Seagulls skipper Wally Lewis in 1991. Corowa scored a try from fullback in his return match against Souths – nearly eight years after his last first-grade outing – and made one further interchange appearance.
Alan Kempnich
Kempnich debuted off the bench for Gold Coast against Newcastle in 1990. His second first-grade game was also against the Knights – four years later.
Pitched into the fullback role with Origin rep Adrian Brunker out injured, Kempnich stepped up to land a late sideline conversion and snatch a 12-10 upset for the hapless Seagulls.
Kempnich, who never attempted another goal at the top level, played just four more games for the Seagulls but was a local legend on the northern NSW/Gold Coast club scene.
Matt Bickerstaff
Rugged forward Bickerstaff was one of several players left without a club following the demise of South Queensland Crushers, who he played 17 games for in 1996-97.
The Bowraville junior played three seasons with Queensland Cup outfits Norths and Easts before attracting the interest of Cronulla. Bickerstaff belatedly returned to NRL action with the Sharks in 2002 and finished with 103 first-grade appearances – including six finals games – following stints with St George Illawarra and Canberra.
Matt Gafa
Eighteen-year-old outside-back Gafa played the opening two games of Canberra’s 1997 Super League campaign before fading into relative obscurity.
Gafa scored a record-breaking 348 points in the Raiders’ charge to the 2003 Premier League title and returned to the big time the following season after an absence of more than seven years.
A specialist winger who also dabbled at five-eighth and centre, Gafa racked up 154 points in 40 NRL games for the Green Machine in 2004-05, then spent four seasons at Super League club Harlequins.
John Doyle
A regular for the Cowboys from 1997, utility Doyle was one of the unlikely heroes of Queensland’s 2001 Origin series triumph as a dummy-half.
But after being dumped following the Maroons’ heavy game one defeat in 2002, Doyle quickly fell out of favour in Townsville, too.
Fading into obscurity and retirement, the nuggetty rake resurfaced as a surprise signing for Sydney Roosters in 2006. He played 10 NRL games for Ricky Stuart’s side but ongoing knee issues saw Doyle permanently pull the plug.
Tom Eisenhuth
Back-rower Eisenhuth received a late call-up to debut in the place of injured centre Brad Tighe in Penrith’s 2012 clash with the Warriors in Auckland. The former Junior Kangaroo spent the next six seasons toiling in the NSW Cup and Ron Massey Cup competitions, before earning a deal with Melbourne midway through 2018.
After 2,398 days in the NRL wilderness, Eisenhuth forced his way into the Storm’s Round 1 in 2019 to take on the Broncos, but his five-minute cameo resulted in fractured larynx from an accidental elbow to the throat.
Happily, though, Eisenhuth recovered to played three more NRL games in 2019 and was a regular for Craig Bellamy’s side during 2020-21, taking his career tally to 35 top-grade appearances. A hamstring injury has kept him out of action this year but the 29-year-old is nearing a return.
Sandor Earl
An athletic winger with a penchant for spectacular finishes, Wellington-born Earl played 48 NRL games for Sydney Roosters, Penrith and Canberra from 2009-13, scoring 23 tries.
But in 2013, the Raiders flyer was slapped with a four-year ASADA ban for using and trafficking prohibited performance-enhancing substances.
Earl served his time and signed with Melbourne at the end of 2017, but an ACL injury stymied his bid for an NRL comeback. His belated return came in 2019, with the 29-year-old ending a first-grade hiatus of almost six years.
Earl scored three tries in eight appearances for the Storm over two seasons, coming off the bench in their 2019 prelim final loss to the Roosters.
Jayden Nikorima
The Storm yet again provided the opportunity for a long-term NRL absentee in 2022.
A former Broncos NYC prodigy and Junior Kangaroos rep, Jayden Nikorima – younger brother of Kodi – was snapped up by the Roosters in 2016 as a replacement for Cronulla-bound James Maloney.
The 19-year-old debuted for the club in their World Club Series match against St Helens and played in the opening seven games of the ailing Roosters’ 2016 NRL campaign before falling out of favour with Trent Robinson.
Two failed drug tests saw his Roosters contract torn up at the end of 2017 and off-field problems continued to dog the livewire playmaker. A nomadic period took him to Redcliffe, then to a train-and-trial deal with the Warriors (where ironically he again played for the Dolphins) in 2021.
The Storm threw Nikorima another lifeline at the end of 2021 and after a surprise call-up to play for Māori All Stars, his six-year odyssey toiling away in professional rugby league’s backwaters ended in Round 16 when Craig Bellamy picked him at five-eighth as injured Cameron Munster’s five-eighth replacement to face Manly.