Wests Tigers playmaker Josh Reynolds says he's chomping at the bit to return from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for the first five weeks of the year.
Set to make his club debut in Round 1 before picking up an injury at the final training session, Reynolds will finally get the chance to wear his new colours on Sunday when he takes to the field at Lottoland.
And after spending a month on the sidelines, the five-eighth says it's something he's not taking for granted.
"I was stoked when Ivan told me I'd be back in first-grade," Reynolds said.
"I feel pretty privileged, to be honest because I know I'm coming in to a red hot team.
"The boys are going really good and defending their backsides off, so for him [Ivan] to have that trust in me to come straight back in and fill a role is pretty special and I definitely let him know about that.
"Not for one second did I think I would be a shoo-in back in to the starting team, or even in the team at all.
"I'm pretty lucky and I've probably been overly excited about it all, but I don't care."
A chance to return last week against the Melbourne Storm, Reynolds said the extra week on the sidelines had not only helped his hamstring, but also his attitude to see the team going so well.
"I probably went on the cautious side and could have played last weekend," he said.
"But in the end, I'm really glad that I did take that extra week.
"I've been running around really excited at training and feeling really free with it all.
"For me, I came here as a new player trying to prove myself and unfortunate circumstances happened where I couldn't play Round 1 and Benji and Brooksy started playing some good footy," he continued.
"So for me, who am I to come in and play straight away? I'm nobody, really.
"My attitude is the exact same: play hard and work hard on my game and maybe one day I will be five-eighth. But for now, I've just got to nail my role and nail by job out there for the team.
"I honestly just want to do whatever I can in my power to help those boys."
See what Josh Reynolds had to say about this week's game in full in the video above!
