Mitch Kenny, Izack Tago, Charlie Staines and Jaeman Salmon spent three months in the NRL bubble last year, but only now get a shot at a grand final at Penrith.
They are Penrith's bubble boys, the men who spent three months in Queensland last year but didn't get the reward of playing on grand final day.
Mitch Kenny, Izack Tago, Charlie Staines and Jaeman Salmon are all playing for their own maiden premiership on Sunday after watching on last year and only charging onto the field at fulltime.
"All year, it has driven me massively," Salmon told AAP.
"It was awesome when the boys won. But when we won I couldn't help stop feeling that it would be even better if I was actually playing.
"So a year later for me to be actually playing in the grand final is a very special feeling."
Salmon will come off the bench in Sunday's grand final against Parramatta, with the four bubble boys the only players in Penrith's team yet to have played in a decider.
For three months last year he stayed in a Sunshine Coast hotel, playing just one match in that entire period with reserve grade also called off.
Tago meanwhile played only three, making his debut but otherwise assisting in opposed sessions for the Panthers every week.
"It was mad," the rookie centre said.
"All the boys were pretty close up there. That was cool as. It felt like a win for us when they won the grand final.
"(That experience) will definitely help. It's hard to explain because I know I didn't play but I feel familiar with being around a grand final still."
Penrith's senior players are also well aware of the influence of the bubble boys.
It was part of the reason they were determined to begin grand final week watching the NSW Cup team win their title on Sunday.
Now the likes of Tago will have 22 tickets reserved for family members to watch him in the NRL decider, while Staines will have the whole town of Forbes behind him.
Kenny meanwhile was seen as the leader of the pack, after first arriving at the clubs as a groundskeeper in 2019 and staying on after getting a train-and-trial contract.
It's the reason why he was named to captain the club when players were rested from the final-
He's also likely to hold the most crucial role of the bubble boys, taking the sting out of the game starting at hooker before Api Koroisau comes on.
"His attitude and character was what they were all about," Penrith's strength and conditioning coach from the bubble Hayden Knowles said.
"Everyone loved his leadership from day one. Even now, he goes out and does all the tough stuff. He is super fit, reliable and such a team-first player.
