The comeback kid story is almost complete for Pirates Premier captain Lasa Ulukuta as he finished the regular club season as Wanganui's Most Valuable Player.
After three years coming to grips with the knee injury and reconstruction that very nearly saw him give the game away, the former New Zealand Heartland XV player repaid the faith which others had in him that he could not necessarily see himself with an outstanding 2013 season.
His 25 points in the MVP standings were well clear of the other leading lights, with Border fullback Fraser Middleton finishing on 19 points, while Ruapehu and Wanganui captain Peter Rowe was third on 12.
Ulukuta had previously claimed the MVP award in 2010, the year he suffered his harsh injury in Wanganui's Ranfurly Shield challenge to Taranaki.
He returned gingerly to club rugby in 2012, but felt far from his best and now had home and family concerns to consider.
But come preseason this year, Ulukuta said Pirates coach Phillip Morris and first-five Denning Tyrell made it clear they "still believed in him" offering him the captaincy to lead by example and after a hard early preseason he began to show the touches of old.
"It's just up in the top two inches," he said.
"It's just great to have [the award] with this bunch of boys behind me. We worked hard for it and they make me look good."
Ulukuta is the Pirates' top tryscorer with eight tries, and displayed all the facets from barge over scores to chip-and-chase tactics during his team's charge to the semifinals. It was form the Wanganui selectors could not deny - nor wanted to.
After initially being unavailable for Heartland duty, the blessing from loved ones saw Ulukuta accept the encouragement he was receiving.
"Karl [Hoskin] rang me up and said it would be good to be part of his team.
"I had a run with them last Wednesday and hopefully I get selected."
For the immediate future, Ulukuta's focus is on Saturday's semifinal in Waverley against Pirates' great rivals Border, who have pipped them by a solitary point in both their games this year.
"The bye was good for us, we've been training for two weeks.
"If we really need it badly, we'll get it."
Ruapehu Rugby and Sports Club can also take inventory of their bulging trophy case for 2013 with just two more left to collect.
With the dominant Premier team finishing top of the table while the Senior side were runner-up in their grade, Ruapehu comfortably wrapped up the Weekes Cup for the fourth time in five years with a combined 134 points.
Earlier in the year, Ruapehu had threatened to withdraw from contesting the Cup if a contentious rule change allowing Marist to have all three of their teams in contention was not rescinded.
Eventually the Council of Clubs voted to return to the previous rules, although on results Ruapehu would still have won the Cup in 2013 with Marist's combined score being 102 across their three teams.
The Ruapehu Premiers also locked in the Paul Mitchell Cup as top team of Round One and for the first time will keep the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield over the summer.