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

He spent his initial six seasons with his father's old club Cronulla, breaking point-scoring records (1,112 points from 75 tries and 406 goals) but without winning a title before crossing over to union in 2002.

Then he proved just as adaptable at the 15-man game, playing flyhalf, 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 early in 2006, a time when he seriously contemplated retiring from football altogether.

"I'd really just had enough," Rogers revealed in a recent interview.

"I had a great time, but with Dad's passing and all of that, I just wanted to be at home close to my family. I didn't want to play any more."

However, a chat with Titans co-founder and chief executive Michael Searle and Cartwright changed those thoughts and he returned home from Sydney to the Gold Coast to join the club.

A passionate rugby league man, Searle re-ignited the competitive fire in Rogers.

After he crossed for his career 100th premiership try against the Sharks at Skilled Park last weekend, he was happy to joke about the physical toll that feat has entailed.

"I was pretty fresh-faced back then (1995) when I scored my first try, not quite as old and roughed-up as I am now," he noted.

And now a grateful Rogers is ready to repay Searle, Cartwright and his team-mates for their faith as best he can in the 2009 finals series.

"I'm just rapt to be part of this place and very thankful for the opportunity Searly (Michael Searle) and Carty (John Cartwright) gave me to be a part of this great bunch of guys," said Rogers.

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