Jarrod Croker scoops up a cricket ball as we stride towards the Manuka Oval boundary.
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It is August 8, 2017, and we duck away from the pack talking about the Canberra sport awards to discuss Croker's reasoning for re-signing with the Canberra Raiders for a further three seasons.
"My number one goal for the club is premierships and that's why I'm hanging around," Croker says.
"None of us are playing the game to break records, we're all playing for that reason - to win a comp - and I believe we can do that here."
It suggests the sheer weight of records Croker has since broken counts for little in the grand scheme of things.
Especially given two NRL seasons have come to a close since that day and the Raiders have missed the finals series in each of them.
Today the dream is very much alive, perhaps now more than ever.
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Achieving it would cement Croker's place among the scores of Canberra Raiders legends.
It is a group to which he already belongs, but ask the man himself and he will say he has plenty of catching up to do. Perhaps that first Sunday in October will provide the lasting image Croker so thoroughly deserves.
Think Mal Meninga being hoisted onto the shoulders of Laurie Daley and Bradley Clyde as he signs off with his third premiership.
A Ricky Stuart cutout pass, Gary Belcher on the fly, Ferguson's head poking out at the bottom of a mass of bodies en route to Canberra's first grand final victory.
Legends from a golden era which bore three premierships, Australian Kangaroos caps and State of Origin superstars.
It is an era the Raiders are desperate to recapture, one they are edging closer towards in the midst of their most consistent season in 16 years, one led by Stuart, Croker and Josh Hodgson.
Croker's face is the first that springs to mind when Raiders coach Stuart pictures Canberra's core values of courage, respect, integrity, and professionalism.
They first crossed paths at the Ricky Stuart Foundation golf day in 2013 and the would-be Raiders mentor was floored by the well-mannered Canberra centre.
If he didn't know it then, Stuart soon worked it out - this kid will go down as "one of the greats of the Raiders and one of our favourite sons".
Croker would have laughed had you told the once raw, skinny kid from Goulburn with blonde tips in his hair he would one day play 250 games for the Raiders.
But that is just what the 28-year-old will do when he leads the Raiders in a highly-anticipated top four showdown against the Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
Through 249 matches he has become Canberra's second most-capped player and eclipsed all others to become the Raiders' leading point scorer and top try scorer.
The prospect of him one day retiring as the game's highest point scorer is very real.
Raiders forward Josh Papalii likens his skipper to "a fine wine" - he just continues to get better with age.
Croker's co-captain Hodgson echoes the sentiment. Together they are like chalk and cheese, and together they are steering the Green Machine into a new era.
"I'll give him a bit of a dig, he's an old fella now. He has been getting better with age," Hodgson said.
"I know he has been recognised throughout the years as such a good clubman but I think he is getting to that stage of his career where he has been so consistent he is on the fringe of State of Origin talk.
"Hopefully one day he gets to do that, but first and foremost I hope he really enjoys the day on the weekend.
"It's a massive achievement, there aren't many people at our club that have managed to do that."
In fact there is only one preceding Hodgson's co-captain.
That would be Jason Croker - a 318-game veteran, a premiership winner, a Kangaroos and NSW representative, a Raiders Hall of Fame member.
Canberra's Hall of Fame is a club his modern day namesake is certain to join - but not before he shatters a few more records along the way.
"I'm sure he will go on to break the 300 record and hopefully even push for the 400, and be the first Raider at our club to do that," Hodgson said.
"It's a massive achievement by Toots, he has already broken quite a few of the records down here. It's nice to see him get the accolades.
"He's Canberra through and through. He's one of the kids who has been here longer than most.
"He is just such a great kid on and off the field, he is so consistent for us with what he does, especially with the kicking.
"It's nice to see such a good getting good accolades."
Never has Croker been one to seek the limelight or pump up his own tyres - he yearns for team success.
Such an occasion would undoubtedly elevate Croker into the upper echelon of Raiders legends - a category in which he already belongs.
There would be no Raider more deserving.
NRL ROUND 21
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 2pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Nick Cotric, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (C), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Ryan Sutton, 18. Sam Williams, 19. Joey Leilua, 20. Emre Guler, 21. Michael Oldfield.
Roosters squad: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Brett Morris, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Sam Verrills, 10. Isaac Liu, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Mitchell Aubusson, 13. Victor Radley. Interchange: 14. Nat Butcher, 15. Zane Tetevano, 16. Poasa Faamausili, 17. Sitili Tupouniua, 18. Lindsay Collins, 19. Drew Hutchison, 20. Matt Ikuvalu, 21. Lachlan Lam.