NRL: Mat the Rat sniffs grand final crown

He's got tattoos from head to toe and answers to the nickname Rat, but there's a lot to admire about Mat Rogers as he eyes a career-crowning NRL premiership.

The management company which markets his image off the field describes the dual international as eloquent, engaging, endearingly frank and "fast becoming known as a talented lifestyle personality".

His business resume is accompanied by a dashing photo which makes him look more James Bond than league star.

On the football field though, Rogers has proved a remarkably durable talent in a rough, tough trade.

After 15 seasons of top grade league and rugby, 33-year-old Rogers retains the versatility, class and durability to go toe-to-toe with the NRL's young guns.

The son of the great Steve Rogers is still floating between backline positions as needed, scoring tries and setting them up - a key component in the Gold Coast Titans' surge to their maiden NRL finals campaign.

And should the Titans keep rolling and Rogers collect a first premiership, he still won't be done as he's contracted for 2010.

The Gold Coast copped some criticism after luring Rogers, at age 31, back to the fold as their last signing for their rookie 2007 season.

But Titans coach John Cartwright never doubted Rogers would prove a super acquisition after he called a halt to his six-year stint in rugby with the Wallabies and NSW Waratahs for family reasons.

"Mat has a great knack of scoring tries," said Cartwright, who believes Rogers' calmness will be a big asset in the coming weeks.

"He's an instinctive player who, along with Preston Campbell and Scotty Prince, make us a very hard side to defend.

"He provides us with big match experience. He's played on the biggest stages there are.

"But the one thing that has eluded him is a grand final in the NRL.

"It's an added bonus having a guy like him towards the end of his career knowing he is going to do absolutely everything he can to win a grand final."

It's been a long and hectic ride for Rogers, a representative schoolboy star who exhibited many of his father's skills - speed, side-step, vision and goal-kicking.

From league to rugby and back again, he accumulated five State of Origin appearances for Queensland (1997-01), 11 league test caps with the Kangaroos (1998-01) and 45 rugby test caps with the Wallabies (2002-06).

He spent his initial six seasons with his father's old club Cronulla, breaking point-scoring records (1112 points from 75 tries and 406 goals) but without winning a title before crossing over to union in 2002.

He proved just as adaptable, playing first five-eighths, centre, wing and fullback - the position he filled in the 2003 World Cup final loss to England - although it could be argued his sheer versatility prevented him making a bigger mark.

During it all, he had to deal with a litany of injuries and battle back from the heartbreak of his father's tragic death in 2006, when he seriously contemplated retiring from football altogether.

However Titans co-founder and chief executive Michael Searle and Cartwright changed those thoughts. A passionate league man, Searle re-ignited the competitive fire in Rogers.

- AAP