WE’VE pretty much heard it all about what Sam Burgess’s return means for South Sydney.

Let’s tell you about the other bloke who had his eyes on that Rabbitohs No. 13 jumper before big Sam’s shock announcement.

This time last year Paul Carter was literally sweating his life away.

While Burgess was off chasing his shot at the Rugby Union World Cup, this former Australian Schoolboy captain was working for basic wage in home installation.

Round 19

It was 4am starts, and long hot days.

It followed his second drink driving offence in six months that saw his $250,000-a-year contract with the Titans torn up.

At the time, the son of Penrith’s longest serving first grade player and former captain Steve was preparing for a stint in rehab to overcome his battle with alcohol.

So, as Carter sat in the shade at Redfern Oval this week, the least of his worries was how Burgess’s return has put a temporary roadblock in front of his own future.

Former Panthers player Steve Carter and Paul Carter. Pic Gary Graham Source: News Corp Australia

“Na, na. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t happy,” Carter smiled.

“I think lock is my best position but obviously Sammy is there so I can also play on the edge and a bit of hooker.

“To be honest, I don’t mind where I play, what position, what side of the field, I just want to hopefully be in that 17.

“I know if I can just play my best game every week I know I can get in that team.”

Speak to anyone who knows anything about rugby league and they all tell you the same thing: potential was never the issue for Paul Carter.

His strength, and his weakness was that he played his footy pretty much the same way he lived his life.

“I think that sums me up really,” Carter said.

“Everyone I speak to says it is my best asset and sometimes my worst.

“No matter what it is I go at it 100 miles an hour. Sometimes I go a bit over the top, like in games sometimes I might get a bit heated or take things a bit too far.

“But that is something I am really trying to manage and I think I have a lot better hold on it now.

“I am a bit older and I have had a few things I have learnt from.

“A few hard mistakes, like drink driving. Obviously that set me back massively and I have learnt a lot from that.”

Also a former Australian water polo player from the Central Coast, Carter was signed by the Bulldogs when he was 17 and went from SG Ball straight into a red-hot under 20s in the space of a few months.

“My first year, we had the likes of Sam Kasiano, Aidan Sezer, Marty Taupau, Tim Lafai, Nathan Massey, Josh Jackson, Dale Finucane,” Carter said.

“I was 17 turning 18 and I played two games that year. I played the semi-final at hooker.”

He toured with the Australian Schoolboys in 2010, as their skipper.

Then when he went to the Gold Coast, he claimed the club’s rookie of the year in 2014.

Paul Carter during Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League 18 Years National Championship final. Source: News Limited

But by that time Carter’s reputation was already hanging by a thread. So, when he got done DUI the second time, it looked like there was going to be no coming back.

Until Souths came knocking.

Carter is adamant he is in a better place now than he has ever been.

Off contract, and with Burgess in front of him, but still with time to make up on lost ground.

“I am 23. I still have 10 years ahead of me,” Carter said.

“But it is a crucial time in my life. Sometimes I have to learn to pull back a little bit.

“There are times when I get myself in a bit of trouble, on and off the field.

“It is just about getting the right mix. Knowing when to be aggressive and when not to be.”

He saw him old man when the Rabbitohs played the Titans up on the Gold Coast last weekend.

“He came to the game. He loves watching,” Carter said of his father, who still holds Penrith’s club record for 244 first grade games.

Paul Carter during a Souths training session. Picture Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia

“He lives at Coffs Harbour now. Him, mum and my little sister made the drive up.

“When I was born Dad would have been 21. I think he played 15 years there all up.

“I still remember going to watch him play when I was nine or 10 years old, going to Penrith Park and annoying all the players in the sheds, being a pain in the arse.

“I guess this is all I have ever known. I look back on everything that has happened in the past two years as a learning experience.

“I think there is a silver lining to everything that has happened.

“Obviously last year I was still lucky enough to get four games at the end of the year but I wasn’t probably as fit and as strong as I should have been.

“I really lost a year there but that is all done and dusted.

“All I can do now is look to the future.”