The above photo captures Andy Saunders' jubilation at having made his NRL debut in Canterbury's dramatic two-point defeat of Newcastle in July 2017. Less than two months later, he was axed by the Bulldogs, without playing another game.
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Two years later, he is still chasing that second NRL match.
"The hardest thing was, I made my NRL debut in round 18. And then in the exact same year, I was dropped from the club," he said. "Like, I had nowhere to go: no NRL club wanted me ... [I went from] the highest point of my career to the lowest point in just six weeks.
"It was a really hard time I went through. But, absolutely, that's [playing more NRL] the one thing I want to do. Once I've had a taste for it now, I just want more."
It was a really hard time I went through. But, absolutely, that's [playing more NRL] the one thing I want to do.
- Andy Saunders
It was the second time an NRL club had dumped Saunders: Penrith, whom he signed with as a 16-year-old while in year 11 at Farrer, untethered him the previous season.
In 2018, he played two games for Parramatta's feeder club, the Wentworthville Magpies, before re-signing with Penrith and then being quickly expunged by them again.
On Saturday afternoon at Panthers Stadium, the 24-year-old, Quirindi-raised prop will run out for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles - Manly's feeder club - against Penrith, where he still lives.
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Crucially, though, he has not given up on his NRL dream despite the pain of unrequited love, while the NRL, it seems, has not given up on the former junior Kangaroo.
He said he had "left no stone unturned" in his effort to become an NRL footballer. He has "really applied" himself, giving himself "the best opportunity possible" to achieve that lofty goal.
That's why he has "stuck it out", juggling his football with full-time work as an accounts manager at Austral Bricks and Austral Masonry.
"But the good thing is I'm around there [the NRL] ... it pushes my claim a bit further ... It's still just good to be amongst it, playing a bit of football."
"It's [the 100 games] come around a lot quicker than I thought - it just bloody flies," he added. "I'm getting old: that's my problem."
He continued: "I'm only part-time now [as a footballer]. But hopefully, ideally, the dream is to get back in the NRL and be playing full time."
Saunders said another obstacle to his NRL aspiration was his size. At 186 centimetres and 105 kilograms, he believes that some NRL sides may consider him too small - preferring instead 120kg behemoths like Broncos front-rower Payne Haas.
He said he had also been "unfortunate" to be at clubs with high-quality front-row "cattle" in front of him. "But at the end of the day, it comes down to me: if you're good enough, they'll pick ya."
When asked to encapsulate his rugby league experience into words since signing with Penrith, he said: "It's been a long journey. I've had lots of ups and downs, I've been moved on from two different clubs. So it has been quite hard. But it's all a learning curve, I suppose - and that's sport."
Despite those body blows, Saunders considers himself "very lucky". He's a "happy" man: "I've got a good job and I'm enjoying playing my footy, so it's good."
