Exactly 30 years after winning his own grand final, Jason Hetherington gave his son Kobe words of wisdom that saved him from missing Sunday's big game.
Broncos forward Kobe has been dogged by a painful hip injury for the second half of the season and at one stage was considering surgery that would have ended his year.
But up stepped Jason, a classy hooker and member of Canterbury's 1995 title-winning team with the wisdom that comes with age.
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"It's been tough for Kobe – he had to either play in pain or have the surgery," Jason, now 56 and owner of a water truck business in Gladstone, told Wide World of Sports.
"The doctors wanted to operate but I knew he had a real chance of playing the big end-of-season games with the Broncos and that he would hate sitting on the sidelines.
"So I told him he should just grit his teeth and learn to play with pain.
"All the great players do that at some stage of their career – that's the nature of the game we play.
"It's been really hard for him but he has toughed it out and hopefully on Sunday he will reap the reward."
The Hetherington family will make the long trip south to watch Kobe in what will be his final game for the Broncos on Sunday before joining Manly.
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"My wife and I, Kobe's twin Zac who plays for Ipswich Jets and his younger brother will all be there – no way we could miss it," Jason said.
"The flights from Queensland are outrageous but we did our homework and are driving to Ballina (in northern NSW) and the flights from there are a lot cheaper."
Jason coached Kobe as a wee lad in Gladstone but knew his time was up one evening when they had a training session in the backyard.
"I was teaching Kobe and Zac how to tackle and Kobe said 'no, you don't do it like that dad, Mrs Coleman at school taught us to do it this way'," he recalled.
"And you know what… Mrs Coleman was right so I stepped back and let her coach him and she played her part in getting him here."
Father and son have set up their own grand final dynasty.
"I played in three and this is Kobe's second so I'm proud of what we achieved," Jason said.
"Win or lose, you are brothers for life and I was down in Sydney for the 30th anniversary reunion of the Bulldogs' win over Manly not long ago.
"They are games you never forget for the rest of your days and I've been telling Kobe that and to embrace the week."
The Broncos take on Melbourne in Sydney on Sunday.
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