Stepping up in the absence of injured players doesn't faze Ben Matulino - it's something he has done throughout his 87-game career at the Warriors.
His combination with team-mate Russell Packer started in the Central Districts junior grades and has progressed through various age group teams to the Auckland club.
Their partnership throughout the years in the absence of a number of injured props has seen them strive to improve, with the reward a call up to the national side three years ago.
It has got to the point where both players are casual about whether it would happen again in 2012.
"We've had top dogs get injured early in the season - Pricey out, Sammy out, Bull out, we're kinda used to it," he said.
"We were kinda joking around that maybe we'll have to do it again this year and it's sort of happened already - we didn't expect to come around this early in the season."
With the likes of Sione Lousi and Ukuma Ta'ai looking for inspiration, Matulino in particular understands his need to play the unfancied role of 'veteran'.
Don't expect the Naenae-raised 23-year-old to change too much to his preparation and performances, however.
"I don't like being in that category but as soon as Jake (Lillyman) and Sam (Rapira) come back those two will be the veterans, but just at the moment I feel like me and Russell are sort of the experienced ones in our forward pack," he said.
"I don't really change too much about my game when new kids come in. I just want to sort of pick up my work ethic and lead in that kind of way just leading with my actions more than verbal."
Those actions were realised in the first game of the season, a thrilling 20-26 loss to the Manly Sea Eagles at Eden Park. While disappointing, Matulino raised his eyebrows at the end of the match - and not for the wrong reasons.
"I was surprised to see what the score was at the end of the game. To see us come back in the last couple of minutes, we almost scraped around to get it to golden point so it was good."
They'll be looking for improvement on that match, aided in no small terms by the combination of Matulino and Packer, when they travel to Parramatta Stadium to play the Eels on Monday night.