When Tyrone Peachey arrived on the Gold Coast for his first Indigenous All Stars camp prior to the 2015 season, the mere presence of Greg Inglis in the team room left him awestruck.
With his new club trying to avoid a third straight loss to start the 2019 Telstra Premiership, Peachey was actually looking forward to marking up against the South Sydney skipper.
But a shoulder injury picked up by Inglis in the win over the Dragons last round has prevented 27-year-old Peachy from standing opposite his idol when the Rabbitohs host the Titans at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
The nervous newcomer into an Indigenous team four years ago that boasted the likes of Inglis, Johnathan Thurston and Justin Hodges, this year Peachey was one of the senior members of the squad.
Following the recent retirements of Thurston and Hodges and with Inglis soon to also step aside, a new generation of Indigenous leaders will be ushered into the game.
Match Highlights: Indigenous All Stars v NZ Maori All Stars
Along with Cody Walker, Ryan James, Will Chambers and Latrell Mitchell, Peachey is one of a number of players ready to step into the void but says the unity within the group doesn't require any extra onus of leadership.
"It's not really like that. Everyone gets along so well in those camps. When you go in there it's not awkward at all, everyone gets along so well," Peachey explained.
"It was crazy being in that first Indigenous camp. I was only a young fella and 'GI' and 'JT' and Justin Hodges and a lot of players like that that were in that team but they've all retired now so it was a bit weird this year.
"There were a lot of young blokes who came into the camp and they were all looking at me as an older bloke.
"The young blokes might look at me like that but I don't think about it all.
"I just want to go in there and have a fun time and I did this year and we came away with the win.
"It showed on the field with the way we played how connected everyone was."
Connection, however, is something that Peachey admits he is still trying to find at his new club.
Given a roaming commission from the centres, Peachey's left edge was exposed badly by Cronulla in last Saturday's 20-6 loss at Shark Park.
Gold Coast captain Ryan James explained that video review early in the week showed that rather than poor defensive reads it was a shortage of numbers that led to the leakage of points.
Rabbitohs v Titans - Round 3
"In a couple of those breaks we were short on that edge, we had five players defending 70 per cent of the field," James said.
"We noticed that in the video and we just need to make sure we get the numbers right from the start.
"Peach just wants to come here and win. You can tell how much it means to him when you do video sessions and he's just super frustrated that things aren't working."
The star recruit admitted he had room to improve.
"I haven't played too well these first two weeks," Peachey concedes.
"It was a lot more difficult than what I thought coming to a new club. I was at Penrith for five years and I knew that playbook and the way everyone played like the back of my hand.
"It's going to be hard over the next couple of weeks to try and find my role within the team. I still haven't found that yet.
"Trying to, trying to figure that out and hopefully it comes sooner rather than later."
