Schoolboy prodigy Jack Howarth had to bide his time while his junior peers made NRL headlines but the Melbourne centre says honing his craft under hard taskmaster Craig Bellamy made the wait worth it in gold.
Howarth, now 21, signed a stunning five-year contract with the Storm in January, 2022.
It was the kind of deal the Storm rarely ink with a 19-year-old.
Howarth was a dual-code star as a youth. In 2020 he was integral to Brisbane Boys College (BBC) winning their first GPS Rugby title since 1954.
A year earlier he starred in a 36-20 win by the Australian Schoolboys rugby league side over the Junior Kiwis while playing as a tall, rangy, wide-running back-rower. In that match he ran rampant on the edges and threw basketball passes like Queensland legend Gene Miles.
In that same side was Reece Walsh and Sam Walker, both of whom made their NRL debuts and became two of the shining lights in the competition while Howarth was toiling away in the Queensland Cup and learning his craft in Melbourne.
Howarth did not make his NRL debut until the final game of 2023 but, ahead of Saturday's home qualifying final with Cronulla, he finds himself a key member of the side after a breakout season.
Bellamy shaped and moulded him, and made Howarth understand what being a Storm player was all about before picking him on a regular basis.
"It took a bit longer than I would have hoped, but I'm glad it's turned out how it has because maybe if I started (playing NRL) earlier it wouldn't have worked out how it is now," Howarth said.
"Consistency in my defence was a big thing that Craig really wanted from me. He said my attack would come naturally and was fine.
"He just said learning the Storm system was more important than anything else and that I needed to do that to get into the first grade side.
"I had a really good pre -season and that's another thing Craig speaks about. If you have a good pre -season, you have a better chance of playing. I just made sure I came back fit."
Howarth, a strapping lad who weighs 105kg and stand at 193cm, has averaged 131m with the ball in his 14 games this year and is playing with confidence.
His defence has improved but is still a work in progress. Howarth's confidence has grown after captain Harry Grant reassured him that he had the capacity to shine on the big stage.
"It was hard because you sit there and wonder, 'am I not good enough' or 'what am I doing?'
"Harry Grant worked with me throughout the year and I can't give him enough praise. He would reassure me that he thought that I've got a good asset that I can bring to the team ... and ability.
"Having someone like that give you that reassurance, it made me want to show what I can do."
