As he emerged through the Warrington Wolves academy, Connor Wrench was tipped for big things and upon his initial breakthrough at the end of 2021, he looked very much on course to achieve them.
However, the fact he is now done with professional rugby league at the age of just 23 speaks to the toll serious injuries can take on a player in every possible respect.
An anterior cruciate ligament injury is arguably the worst a sportsperson can suffer, as it immediately takes almost a year out of your career. In his relatively short time in the sport, Wrench has done that twice – once in each knee.
And while he has completed the physical recovery on each occasion – an admirable feat in itself for such a young man – have the mental scars been too much for him to fully recover from?
Only Wrench himself will know for sure, but this is an end to his career that nobody foresaw.
As a homegrown, Warrington-born talent, he was among the players the club wanted to build their future around – when director of rugby Gary Chambers discussed the type of character he wanted in the building moving forward, Wrench fit the mould almost to a tee.
A player of immense natural speed to make him a real weapon on the edges, there was still plenty of room for development in the former Woolston Rovers junior should he remain fit, which it looked like he was doing.
Despite being out of contract at the end of this year, all of the indications were that Wrench’s long-term future lay at the stadium he grew up dreaming of playing at but now, that decision has been taken out of the club’s hands.
And it is perhaps that care for the club and his hometown that has influenced this shock decision, and the timing of it.
He could, after all, have waited until the end of the season which is only four games away. On the outside at least, nothing appeared wrong – as recently as this weekend, he was playing and scoring against Huddersfield Giants.
It is also a time at which numbers in the outside-backs are extremely stretched due to injuries. In that respect, Wrench was one of the last men standing.
In a period in which the commitment of several players to the cause is being openly questioned by observers, supporters and even coaches, for Wrench to hold his hands up and admit he no longer feels like he can contribute what is required – both in the short and long term – is brave and he deserves immense credit for it.
Whatever he decides to do next – at 23 years old, the world is his oyster – he deserves the full support and good wishes of everybody associated with Warrington Wolves and rugby league in general.
There he did provide some memorable moments – a try in the Challenge Cup quarter-final victory at St Helens last year, two in the critical victory over Toulouse in 2022 to stave off the threat of relegation and opening his account at Wigan in front of the away end stick out immediately – but there were more to make.