But regular scans since then, as many as eight all up, had been all clear for the former Newcastle Knights halfback, who is currently in charge of junior development and on the coaching staff at the club.

That was until last November when the Port Macquarie product and his young family were forced to relive the nightmare all over again.

This time, a “routine” MRI revealed the 32-year-old had six small tumours on his brain. The cancer was back.

“I had the scan on November 22 and we made the decision pretty much on the spot to have surgery the following day,” Dureau told the Newcastle Herald.

“It obviously wasn’t the best news to get but you deal with it and we knew I was in really good hands.”

World renowned Sydney-based brain surgeon Dr Charlie Teo, who operated on Dureau back in 2013 while he was still playing for Catalans in the English Super League, successfully removed the latest tumours and a post operation scan proved all clear. 

But it didn’t end there. The cancer had spread.

“We had some other tests done – a full body bone scan and scans of the chest and abdomen –  and we found out a few weeks later more bad news,” he said.

“It had spread and there were now three tumours in my liver as well.

“It took us a while to process that and we had to figure out the next plan.

“Initially when we found out, the first oncologist I saw to sort out some chemotherapy treatment thought that it was potentially not operable.

“That was not great to hear but it wasn’t really his field of expertise so I went out and got another opinion and saw a specialist that Dr Teo recommended in Sydney that said he would be able to do the surgery.”

Dureau, who played 42 NRL games for the Knights between 2007 and 2010 before spending five seasons at Catalans in France, is now in the middle of a course of chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumours but admits there is a real possibility he will have to have more surgery.

“Two of them are small which hopefully the chemo will take care of but there is one there that’s a bit bigger that might have to be removed,” he said.

“It’s obviously been challenging, that’s for sure.

“Christmas was a tough period for the family [wife Libby and daughters Imogen 3, and Everly, 6 months] but we’re staying positive and trying to keep everything as normal as possible.

“I want to stay as fit and healthy as I possibly can.

“I’m feeling like I’ve got a good plan with some of the best people in the world taking care of me. We got in touch with Dr Teo through a family friend which we were very thankful for and since he operated on me initially, I stayed in touch and had all my scans and follow up stuff done through him.

“It’s a matter of sorting everything out and doing whatever it takes for as long as it takes.

“I had my first lot of chemo on January 7 and I’ve had another lot since and there’s another four to go every three weeks and I see the specialist again in a few weeks time. I’m just really grateful for the unbelievable support I’ve had.”

Asked had he been living in fear of his cancer returning for the past six years, Dureau said:

“I wouldn’t say I was living in fear but I’ve lived with the knowledge that it could potentially come back.

“The type of tumour that I’ve had is known to come back and it’s hard to gauge the length of time. For some people it’s one year, some it’s a lot longer than that but I’ve been living with the risk of it returning.

“It certainly rocked me that first time when I was in France.

“It was originally in the back part of my brain but it grew and was pushing a part of the brain onto the back of my eye which is why I was getting double vision and headaches at the time.”

Knights CEO Phil Gardner said a sign of Dureau’s strength of character came after his first dose of chemotherapy early last month.

“He’s a remarkable young guy. He had chemo in the morning but was still at training with his team that afternoon,” Gardner said. 

“We’ll be doing everything that we possibly can to support him and his young family through it all.”

The Men of League Foundation is in the process of organising a benefit for Dureau and his family in early April.