When an NRL player announces he’s off to the European Super League, it usually means the end of their Australian career.

Whether it’s age, money, talent or a combination of the three, leaving the NRL tends to be the final chapter.

But for a few, the Super League becomes an avenue, a springboard to shoot them all the way back to the NRL.

Who will ever forget Pat Richards’ try in the 2005 Grand Final? Making his feats in the decider even more impressive was the fact he wasn’t even supposed to play. All week leading into the match against North Queensland, Richards was in doubt. But on game day, a needle in his troublesome ankle got him on the field to help Wests to a memorable victory.

Who knew what the future held for Richards but just like that, he was gone. The ’05 grand final would be Richards’ last game in Australia for eight long years as he’d make a name for himself as the premier winger in the Super League, as the ‘Man of Steel’ and as a points scoring freak. He amassed almost 2500 points for Wigan in 224 appearances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUWimZZ1TgE

Source: BestHD1

Then he decided to come home to the Tigers with his best years apparently long behind him.

What’s followed since his return has been nothing short of amazing.

He hasn’t missed a trick. In fact, he’s a better player now than he ever was.

Another in a similar boat is Iosia Soliola.

Soliola debuted for the Sydney Roosters the same year Richards crossed for that grand final try in ’05.

The 19-year-old was so impressive in his rookie year he made the New Zealand Tri-Nations squad, only to miss the series due to injury. The big centre had been earmarked as a future star of the competition and would have been part of the World Cup winning Kiwi team of 2008 if injury didn’t hit again. Rugby league’s sliding doors then saw Soliola leave the Roosters mid-season to join St. Helens. Like Richards, Soliola quickly became an afterthought.

Sam Moa is a different story.

You’d be hard-pressed finding an NRL fan who knew Moa made his debut for the Cronulla Sharks in 2008. That’s probably because the prop only managed the one game.

And would the most avid Tigers supporter know Moa toiled in their lower grades for years prior to that?

Struggling to crack it in the NRL, Moa joined Hull FC with one solitary, and rather uneventful NRL match to his name.

For four years Moa bled for Hull quickly becoming a cult hero at KC Stadium.

Then the Roosters signed Sonny Bill Williams.

You might wonder what this story has to do with SBW joining the Tri-colours. As a frenzied media mobbed the superstar Williams at Allianz Stadium on his first day of training, the unknown Moa entered quickly through the doors of Roosters headquarters. While Williams reaped plenty of accolades in his two year stint with the Bondi club, Moa carved out his own name. He has become one of the premier props in the game on the back of good old hard work and a second chance.

Then there’s Melbourne’s Blake Green who went from being a part-time NRL player to the Super League and back to the Storm as their starting five-eight alongside Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith.

For some, a second chance is just the beginning.

@CurtisWoodward1