At his first Indigenous All Stars camp two years ago, Jack Wighton could barely pluck up the courage to talk to superstars Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston.
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Now the Canberra Raiders youngster hopes to seek advice from Inglis as he looks to secure his switch from centre to fullback.
Wighton admitted he was more nervous than he had ever been ahead of his fourth NRL season. But the 21-year-old is more concerned about turning around Canberra's fortunes on the field than filling the Raiders fullback role, vacated in recent seasons by Josh Dugan and Anthony Milford.
"This is probably the most nervous I've been coming into a season," Wighton said. "It's probably because we want to do well, we don't want to fail.
"We're sick of that losing feeling, as everyone else is. That's why I'm so nervous, I don't want that no more."
Having played every position but halfback in the Raiders back line, Wighton showed great promise at fullback in the final three games of last season.
Wighton will play in next month's All Stars game and said he would like to discuss the positional switch with Inglis, who successfully moved from centre to fullback at Souths.
"He's an absolute freak, I wouldn't mind it," Wighton said. "I'm going into camp with GI in a couple of weeks, I'll have a talk to him and get advice with certain things at fullback.
"The first Indigenous All Stars camp I was a bit star-struck. I went in a bit too quiet, they're a bunch of my idols."
Wighton sat down with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart after last season and said he would prefer to remain in the No.1 jersey to start 2015.
"Ricky asked me if I was comfortable. I said, 'I loved it,' and he's going to give it a go," Wighton said.
"It's up to me to keep my form and keep my spot. We've got a lot of other good fullbacks coming through like Jordan Rapana and Jack Ahearn.
"It's good to finally have one position. You never know what's going to happen, but it also helps having great players like that on your tail. It keeps you on the balls of your feet and focused."
The arrival of Wighton's first child, daughter Aaliyah, two months ago has added to the extra responsibility.
"It gives me a distraction from football, but it also gives me an extra focus for football," he said.
"I've got someone else apart from myself and my teammates to work for now I have a little daughter.
"I love every bit of it. It's great to go home to her at the end of the day."
Raiders prop David Shillington warned fans not to expect miracles from Wighton immediately.
"He looked fantastic in those last three games, even though he was so raw," Shillington said.
"He won't master it this season, but he's young and signed long-term. We can invest a lot of time into him.
"Jack's already looked sharper there and he's going to be a weapon."
Shillington said the forward pack would benefit from Wighton's aggressive kick returns, comparing him with Dugan, who has since left the Raiders and gone on to play State of Origin with NSW.
"I remember when Duges was here and they'd kick downfield. You'd start jogging back and he'd bolt straight past you. Hopefully Jack's like that for us. He's definitely got the ability. We have to give him time to develop into the role."
