IF you’ve got a time machine for sale, expect a call from Malakai Watene-Zelezniak.

Set the dial back about eight years and hit the green button. He wants to do things a little differently.

Because it’s only now — now that he’s finally established himself as an NRL player with Wests Tigers — that the 26-year-old realises what could have been.

He knows he’s potentially missed out on half a career. And he has no one to blame but himself.

Round 20

But now he’s making incredible sacrifices to make up for lost time.

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Malakai Watene-Zelezniak of the Tigers celebrates a try. Source: Getty Images

A CAREER ON HOLD AND ‘MY BIGGEST REGRET’

Watene-Zelezniak was one of rugby league’s next big things when he appeared on the scene in Penrith’s NYC team in 2009.

But after graduating from the junior competition in 2011 he walked away from the game, and spent time in rugby union where he couldn’t crack the elite level.

By the time he realised he wanted to make a fist of playing rugby league professionally, he was 23 years old and had fallen well behind the pack.

He admits his attitude towards training and lifestyle wasn’t up to scratch to handle the demands of an NRL career.

“That’s been my biggest regret in my career, I thought it would all just come to me and I wouldn’t have to work hard for it,” Watene-Zelezniak told foxsports.com.au.

“With anything in life you have to work hard. I didn’t know it back then but I know it now.

“If I knew one thing back then it would be to put in the hard work so I could get there.”

Watene-Zelezniak isn’t alone in realising the potential career that he flushed down the toilet.

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Malakai Watene-Zelezniak during Wests Tigers training. Source: News Corp Australia

Now-Tigers teammate Tim Grant was at Penrith when the exciting young centre-winger was coming through, but then vanished.

“When he was at Penrith he was the next big thing and had all the raps but didn’t get his break for various reasons,” Grant told NRL.com recently.

“... He missed the boat a little bit.”

THE INFLUENCE OF LITTLE BROTHER, AND AN NRL DEBUT

Watene-Zelezniak can pinpoint the exact moment he decided to have another crack at the NRL.

It was April 5, 2014 and he was sitting in the Penrith Park (now Pepper Stadium) grandstand watching younger brother Dallin run out for his NRL debut.

This was the kid Malakai used to terrorise in backyard footy matches, who was four years his junior.

Right before his eyes was the promising career that he could have had himself.

“Seeing the younger brother debut, I remember being at the game and I was excited, I was happy for him,” Watene-Zelezniak said.

“It kind of motivated me, it gave me a bit of a spark to think I want to be on the same field as him one day.

“He was a massive spark for me.”

So in 2015, the elder brother rejoined the Panthers and began training and playing with the club’s reserve grade team.

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Brothers Dallin and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak. Source: News Corp Australia

It would be two years before he would finally realise his dream of playing in the NRL.

That came in round six last year, when Malakai lined up on a wing and Dallin in the centres as the Panthers lost to South Sydney by one point.

It was only a couple of weeks later he was released by Penrith and took up a contract with the Wests Tigers, linking up with former mentor Ivan Cleary.

AN INCREDIBLE FAMILY SACRIFICE

Watene-Zelezniak played 13 games for the Tigers after joining the club mid-2017 and established himself as a genuine NRL player.

And having finally cracked the big time, the hunger to make a name for himself was greater than ever.

It meant the 26-year-old had to make a remarkable sacrifice.

He had to deny his young family — a wife and two children — a holiday, as he wanted to use his off-season to train instead.

“It was actually tough because being the off-season my wife and kids wanted to go away on a holiday, but I knew if I went away on a holiday I wouldn’t be able to diet as much or train as hard,” he said.

“So we stayed around home this off-season and focused on my training.

“It was pretty tough, but she’s understanding. She understands this is my job, this is my income.

“There will be plenty of time to go away on holidays once I retire.”

The tough decision paid off in a big way.

Watene-Zelezniak dropped 9kg as a result of his strict diet and training plan. Tigers trainers Ronnie Palmer and Steve Hooper were delighted to see the slimmed-down, toned-up outside back return for his first pre-season at the club.

Ask anyone around Concord and there’s a lot of buzz around Watene-Zelezniak heading into 2018.

“Last pre-season heading in with Panthers, I trained and dieted a bit but I wasn’t as fully committed. This is the first time I’ve put 100 per cent in and taken it seriously,” he said.

“I think me getting a taste of first grade last year created a hunger inside me to want it more.

“I didn’t want to just take those games and that was it, so that’s what drove me to train hard during off-season.”

Watene-Zelezniak knows he’s “playing catch-up”.

At 26, he’s started his NRL career late and may only have a few good years left in him.

But he’s determined not to let the opportunity go wasted again.