KEY POINTS:
Nathan Fien would be a rare beast among league players if he was a fan of the literary works of Charles Dickens.
But if any player has a true appreciation of the meaning of one Dickens' most famous lines - "It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times" - it's Fien; the Aussie whose illegitimate adoption by the NZRL saw him become the centrepiece of a sporting scandal of, well, Dickensian proportions.
Dickens' famous line is the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities. The Fien debacle, as it is oft coined, was a tale of two tests.
Called up by the Kiwis for last year's Tri-Nations, Fien came off the bench in the 20-15 defeat by the Kangaroos and the 18-14 victory over Great Britain before rumours that he was ineligible to play in the matches quickly morphed into hard fact.
When it was confirmed that his great-grandmother, not - as claimed by the NZRL - his grandmother, was a New Zealander, Fien was withdrawn from the Kiwis and Grannygate was born.
The fall-out was colossal, with then NZRL chairman Sel Bennett falling on his sword amid bitter recriminations from all quarters.
Even Kiwis skipper Ruben Wiki's mum weighed in - opining that Fien wasn't that good anyway.
As the fall-out spread, Fien himself was almost forgotten.
No one thought much about the poor bloke who had answered a call from a country he had hoped to call his own and who had just wanted to play footy.
As the Kiwis forged on to successfully repair their Tri-Nations campaign, Fien, a bit like an embarrassing relative no one mentions at Christmas, simply faded into the background.
It must have hurt. Really hurt.
But, watching him train with the Warriors ahead of Sunday's match against Melbourne Storm, you wouldn't know it.
A Jack-in-the-box type, he darts here and there, usually with a grin on his face.
It's not until he speaks that you get a sense of the disappointment he insists no longer lingers.
"I'm not going to lie, it was very tough, not just on myself but for my whole family as well," he says.
"But it's just one of those things, you have to move on. We are concentrating on the Warriors now. I guess the media guys are just doing their job by writing a story but, at then end of the day, I hadn't done anything wrong.
"I accepted the NZRL's apology for the mistake that they made. That's where it ends.
"I haven't thought about it for a long time."
It's a recurring theme: it's in the past, he doesn't think about it.
But how could he not? Just like every other sportsman who has ever reached the pinnacle by achieving international selection, Fien was honoured and proud to play for the Kiwis. He felt that buzz, just like everyone else.
"It was the best time of my life. I enjoyed the footy - the standard is obviously at a very high level.
"And the camaraderie that you get playing with the boys and being on tour was fantastic. It's something that I'll cherish forever."
Even though his name is now synonymous with a piece of league history many in this country would like to forget? "Look, I don't read a lot of the papers but you hear about it - 'the Fien debacle'.
"You [the media] call it what you call it. I've accepted the apology, you move on. I'm just concentrating on the Warriors now."
That said, Fien hasn't totally put the Kiwis from his mind.
"I've made the decision now, and at the end of this year I'll be able to play for New Zealand through residency - and I'll definitely be putting my hand up hoping for selection again.
"Hopefully my form is good at the end of the year. I'm very much looking forward to it."
So, would being picked again and earning a few headlines for his deeds on the field be his road to redemption?
"To tell you the truth I haven't thought about it a lot. I've really just tried to put what's happened behind me. I've moved on now and am concentrating on the Warriors. That's where I am at this stage."
Moving on, then.
Even prior to his ill-fated Tri-Nations campaign, Fien was struggling with a niggling back injury that affected a nerve in his foot, robbing him of his pace. Rehab from that injury disrupted his pre-season and fellow North Queenslander George Gatis seized the starting hooker's job at the Warriors.
But Fien has looked sharp off the bench, most notably during last Sunday's late first-half blitz of the Broncos, and is pressing hard to recapture his place in the starting 13.
"I've been pretty happy with my form," he says. And the team's not going badly, either.
"It's great to have the two wins but, keeping it in perspective, we've got a pretty tough one this weekend.
"Melbourne have won two on the trot, too, so obviously they are going well. It will be our biggest test so far, so hopefully we'll be up for it."
There's a definite buzz about the Warriors at the moment. Fien puts it down to a commodity that he would understandably value more than most: trust.
"There is a lot of trust here. Not just among the players, but in [coach] Ivan's [Cleary] structures as well. It is evolving, it is going really well."
Confidence can be fleeting but Fien doesn't believe a reverse at last year's losing grand finalists would burst the club's bubble.
"It is still very early in the season. We have got off to a good start and we are very confident we can do the job over there in Melbourne. But, in the worst-case scenario we don't win the game, it is not going to derail our whole season. There are still another 20-odd rounds to go.
"We are very confident in our own ability. We will just go out and try to do the things well that we've done over the last few weeks and hopefully that will be enough."
