Growing up in Tweed Heads, Reece Robson was surrounded by mates whose State of Origin allegiances were rubbery to say the least.
As Queensland reeled off eight series in a row, it’s fair to say there were not many NSW fans left in the towns south of the border.
So did Robson ever consider jumping on the Queensland bandwagon?
"Not a chance," he told NRL.com. "It never even crept into my head. I just hated them even more the more they won."
The pain of watching his NSW-born friends wearing maroon and cheering for Queensland has sat with Robson ever since, driving him in his quest to represent his state on the big stage.
It's a journey that's taken the hooker from Murwillumbah to Endeavour Sports High School in Sydney's south, before he was lured away from Cronulla to the Dragons junior pathway in 2015.
An NRL debut followed in 2018 and Robson's career took off when he joined the North Queensland Cowboys in 2020.
St George Illawarra fans have long viewed Robson as the one that got away and it's not hard to see why.
Just 12 months after the youngster moved to Townsville, Dragons skipper and starting hooker Cameron McInnes announced he had signed with the Sharks. The Red V have struggled to find a long-term hooker ever since.
Former St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor said it didn't take long for club officials to realise Robson had a bright future but his rapid rise came at a pace few could have predicted.
"He had a real grasp of what it took to succeed," McGregor told NRL.com. "Every training session I just thought 'this guy doesn't let up'. He came on in that position and became a first grader a lot quicker than we envisioned.
"It was great but when you get a taste of first grade, you want more. If your pathway's blocked you move on and that's what happened.
"I could see back then he was going to be one you can't replace in the future but at that stage we couldn't give him what he wanted, which was to play nine.
"He had such a tough attitude towards how hard he trained and a focus on making it to the highest level. He was destined to be where he is today."
It wasn't just coaches who could tell Robson had a bright future, with his teammates also quickly realising the emerging hooker had a special ability.
Robson played in an Australian Schoolboys side alongside current Blues Zac Lomax and Payne Haas and featured in multiple junior NSW teams.
Origin hopefuls face-off
NSW winger Brian To'o recalls being starstruck by the emerging hooker when he first met Robson as a teenager.
"He was a gun, one of the best hookers coming up," To'o told NRL.com. "That's why I stayed in my comfort zone, he was a top player, the rock star, I was just a regular winger.
"We didn't really connect with each other back then. We knew each other but not as much as we do now. We really rekindled that fire [in Blues camp] last year so it's good to see him. We spoke about our junior teams together and had a laugh about it. Now we've come into this place as brothers."
Robson's selection for the opening game of this year's series came as a surprise to many, with most tipping Wests Tigers hooker Api Koroisau to win the race for the sky-blue jumper.
The dummy-half has delivered in spades, laying the foundation for the Blues' Game Two victory and completing a mountain of defensive work after NSW were reduced to 12 men in the opener.
It's exactly the type of performance coach Michael Maguire is wanting to build his team around, with physicality and commitment prioritised over flashy plays.
"He's been excellent," Maguire said. "It was great to see what he did in that first game and work the way he did.
"In Game Two he was a big reason why we had success and was able to steer the team to where he wanted to. Our defence was something that was talked about and he's in the middle of the park laying a platform for us.
"That shows he's come into Origin and handled that really well and shown he's a true-Blue Origin player."
While his Origin career is only young, Robson's ties to Suncorp Stadium run deep.
The youngster's first trip to a State of Origin match came as part of a NSW Under 18 team that played a curtain-raiser before the second game of the 2016 series.
Robson's senior debut also came at the venue in Game Two last year. The matches delivered a mixed bag of results, with the Junior Blues prevailing 26-0, while the senior side fell 32-6 in 2023.
The NSW Under 18 appearance, in particular, sowed the seeds for Robson's desire to represent his state at senior level.
"The hunger's always there but to see it live and unfold in front of you is special," Robson said.
"To be part of that and experience it as a spectator, it makes you even more hungry to get out there and be part of it."
This brings us back to where it all started, a young Robson living on the NSW side of the border but surrounded by Queensland fans.
It's a situation the Maroons may live to regret, given the hooker is now determined to do whatever it takes to ensure the Blues leave Suncorp Stadium with the State of Origin shield on Wednesday night.
"Seeing a lot of your mates jump the fence to Queensland grows that hate for Queensland," Robson said. "Watching them have so much success and people swapping sides because they were so dominant, it just builds that hunger.
"That's why I'm so passionate about it and to be able to get the chance to do something about it is unreal."
