KENNY Edwards was at his third club, on his last chance and yet to play first grade.

He was 23, struggling to afford Sydney living and Parramatta was giving him advances on his contract just so he could afford to pay rent and eat.

He was separated from his partner and two-year-old daughter, unable to afford moving them from the Gold Coast.

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Round 19

The nights his former teammate Joseph Paulo would invite him over for dinner were a blessing. It meant he could ditch the packet noodles for the night.

He didn’t expect his start at the Eels to be handed to him and wasn’t looking for an easy way out. He’d taken plenty of those early in his career as a gun NYC player and all it brought him was unemployment.

Kenny Edwards of the Eels takes part in a drill at training. Source: Getty Images

That’s why he accepted a contract for a scant $45,000.

While the odds were stacked against him, he’d had too many false starts to let this opportunity slip.

Then Ricky Stuart called him into his office and the dream was once again dangling by a thread.

“I was home sick, I was missing my family. It felt like the dream was getting further and further away,” Edwards said.

“It was round 14 and Sticky called me into his office with (former recruitment officer) Pete Nolan.

“They knew my family was on the Gold Coast because I didn’t have enough money to support them in Sydney.

“They said, ‘We’ve got a Q Cup team we can send you back to. We want to send you home.’

“I needed that kick up the arse.”

Kenny Edwards playing Toyota Cup for Manly. Source: News Limited

If only that wake-up call had come in 2008.

As an Australian Schoolboy, Edwards was not only gifted with physical attributes but the skills to make it as a top-level footballer.

But his attitude stank.

Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover are joined by Manly star Blake Green to talk finals, fallout to Michael Maguire’s sacking and Matt Moylan.

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As a teen, not yet finished high school, Edwards was already in Manly’s top squad, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brent Kite, Josh Perry, Steve Menzies and Anthony Watmough.

While the Sea Eagles would go on to win the 2008 premiership, Edwards was on the nose.

“I went straight into the first grade squad at (the age of) 18 (but) I thought I’d made it before I had. I was carrying on,” he recalled.

His contract was then terminated.

The same happened after a brief stint with St George Illawarra.

So what went wrong?

“I don’t really want to get into it. I was young. Wrong choices. It was disciplinary.”

Kenny Edwards playing Toyota Cup for Manly. Source: News Limited

Two clubs down, his name on the black list and all by the age of 18.

As fate would have it, Edwards’ next opportunity came in the strangest of ways.

It was 2012 when his cousin, James Tamou, was making his State of Origin debut for NSW in Melbourne.

Edwards went down to Docklands Stadium to watch and tagged along to the post-match function, when he bumped into Manly’s former video analyst Will Badel, who was working with the Blues.

That was when Badel mentioned that Ricky Stuart was taking over the top job at the Eels the next season and offered to put them in touch.

A few days later, Edwards was back on the glitter strip working as a steel fixer when his phone rang.

“I had a voicemail. It said, ‘Kenny, it’s Ricky Stuart. Give me a call back when you can’,” he recalled.

Kenny Edwards before joining the Eels. Source: News Limited

“I was like, ‘F***, no way’. I showed my mates and they were screaming. I was so nervous I ended up waiting until the end of the day and rang him on my way home.

“I told him I was hungry.

“The original plan was for me to come down and do the pre-Christmas camp with Wenty, not even a Parramatta contract but when I spoke to Stick I was so confident. He said he would give me a shot from November to Christmas.”

On a train-and-trial deal worth less than $10,000, Edwards impressed the coach.

He’d earned his deal, albeit a modest one.

“It was 45k. I had to keep getting money brought forward by the club because I just couldn’t live,” he said.

“Everyone has pressures in NRL and it was hard. I was lucky to get upgraded for the next two years.

“My whole first year, I had no money. I was lucky enough that when I did re-sign they brought some money forward for me. It was hard times but I’m here now and grateful.”

Then Brad Arthur arrived.

Kenny Edwards of the Eels celebrates a victory. Source: Getty Images

Edwards credits Arthur for bringing the best out of him. Acting like a “father figure” to the team, the man known as ‘BA’ has been able to get consistency from Edwards.

While influential figures at other clubs tried to change him, Arthur embraced his personality.

He wasn’t made felt like an outsider or that he couldn’t be himself.

Edwards is the first to admit that he’s a larrikin.

In fact, Arthur had to clip him over the ears only a few weeks ago.

“When you’ve done something good, he’ll let you know but when you haven’t, he’ll also let you know,” the 28-year-old said.

“I appreciate his honesty.

“Everyone knows I’m a bit of a larrikin and can carry on a bit. People have come to him about stuff a couple of weeks in a row and I wasn’t playing well so he pulled me in and let me know.

“He’s always had belief in me and the player I can be and I’m thankful.

“He hasn’t tried to change me or tell me what to do. He knows when I’m happy, I’m playing well.”

Standing in the middle of the training paddock on a humid day, Edwards can’t wipe the smirk from his face as he relives his journey.

He’s done a lot of growing up.

As he prepares for Saturday’s final against North Queensland, Edwards thinks back to that faithful day in Stuart’s office where his career was back on the rocks.

Rather than go off the rails, he listened to the warning and delivered on the field.

“I was like, ‘F***. That was the wake-up call I needed’,” he said.

“Four weeks after that, I was man of the match for (feeder team Wentworthville) and ended up signing a two-year-deal.”