SOME players arrive in first grade as ready-made stars, full of show and go. And then there's Glenn Hall, who's finally arrived this winter as genuine first-grade force six long years and three club changes since making his debut with the Bulldogs.

Call him the patron saint of journeymen; he's even had a job. In fact, Hall has done an apprenticeship as a builder, working on city towers, and for years it looked as if that might be the only high-rise part of his career. He's been dropped, been held back as a reserve for the reserves, played virtually a whole season in premier league for the Newtown Jets and spent last year's grand final as Manly's 18th man.

"Oh, I cried. I cried for the result. It was tough sitting there watching it," he admitted this week.

No more tears. When Des Hasler rifled through a fully stocked cupboard this week to name his side for the first final against the Dragons tomorrow night, Hall kept his coveted No.12 jersey. Not even Steven Menzies, playing his last game at Brookvale, could shift him.

Every time Hasler picks him in his run-on side, Hall seems to grow another inch. With the recognition has come confidence and with the confidence has come tries - a barely credible run of five tries in his past six games. Not bad for a player who'd managed only eight in his entire NRL career up until that point. "They're just sneaky tries," Hall laughed. "Flukes. Every week I'd put the ball down and say to myself, 'What the hell is going on?"' Not true. Hall's career - he played first grade for the Bulldogs in 2002, went to Souths for two disappointing years, then on to the Roosters where he found himself grounded with the Jets - is no accident. What he has, he's worked for. When he arrived at Brookvale, he knew it was crunch time in his football career.

"I kind of stuffed my years up at Souths and then I went to the Roosters and I had my most consistent year. But it was all in reserve grade [with Newtown]," Hall said. "If I'd been sat in reserve grade again here at Manly I would have dropped my head. I would have been there week in, week out but I would have told myself, 'You're not a first-grader and it's maybe time to start doing something else."'

But Hall came with the right attitude and met the team he needed to remake him as a player.

"It's a three-way thing," said Manly recruitment manager Noel Cleal.

"You've got the kid who has put in, you've got Des and his coaching staff who have put some polish on him and you've got the strength and conditioning team. He had a problem before he came here of blowing out pretty early in a game and not getting a second wind too readily but the strength and conditioning team have remedied that.

"I suppose he's a bit of journeyman and he's found a home."

Hall grew up in a tough backyard school of footy in Panania with a couple of older brothers and three Riddell boys, including the famous one, Mark, throwing their weight around.

Riddell found success quickly, first at the Dragons and then Parramatta, and inspired his best friend to keep going. Riddell said Hall was always a junior standout, playing two grand finals (his own age and then Riddell's) at the end of every season. And tough, too.

"He used to punch the crap out of me. He was real rough back then. He wouldn't say g'day with a handshake, his idea of saying g'day was a flurry of punches to the shoulder," Riddell said.

Another famous name watching Hall's career with close interest has been former Test mentor Chris Anderson, a premiership winner and a lifelong friend of Hall's father, Michael.

"Opportunity is a big thing, and not just opportunity but actually sticking with a bloke until they get a good dozen or so first grade games and you get a good feel for them. That's been the good thing for him at Manly - the more he's played, the better he's got," Anderson said.

"I think there's probably a lot of blokes like Glenn who don't get a shot these because second grade is so far removed from first grade now. It's hard for them to feel part of it, it's hard to feel accepted and it's hard for the other blokes to accept them because they don't really get to know each other."

Hall is now known by his own teammates and spotted by opponents. It's just the way he likes it and he wants to keep it going as long as possible - especially now he's a first-grader both on paper and in his mind.

"I know I'm not a reserve-grader now, I know I deserve to be here," the 27-year-old said. "I'll try and go as long as I can: why wouldn't I? It's an awesome job, getting paid to do what you love. I've actually worked. I've seen what's outside footy - I'll take this as long as I can."