Anyone who's followed Daniel Mortimer's career trajectory since his days as a CYMS junior knows the diminutive playmaker wasn't the most talented in his age group.
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He was brilliant, don't get me wrong, but other attributes stood out more.
Attributes you can't measure with stats.
Mortimer is tough, that's a given.
He is, after all, a Mortimer and given the way his father and uncles played the game with Canterbury throughout the 80s the second-generation first grade gun was only ever going to play his rugby league one way.
But at a 174 centimetres and 84 kilograms, this Mortimer had to be immensely resilient to play over 100 games in the modern NRL.
The big boys seemingly continue to get bigger and bigger. And they always found Mortimer to run at.
He is a hard worker, too, and played all 27 games in the Roosters' premiership-winning campaign in 2013, in a bevy of positions in whatever role Trent Robinson needed him to. He knows what it takes to win.
And, perhaps most importantly, Mortimer isn't afraid to change.
The livewire debuted in the No.6 at Parramatta and then played halfback, as well as hooker, before becoming an impact player off the bench.
He's played at four NRL clubs too - kick-starting it all at the Eels in 2009 before stints at the Roosters, Gold Coast and then Cronulla.
He said I was the type of player he wanted at the Roosters.
- Mortimer referencing a conversation with Trent Robinson during an interview in 2013.
Toughness, adaptability and an unrelenting drive to achieve success.
They're attributes that'll ensure the newly anointed captain-coach of Orange CYMS succeeds in his Group 10 homecoming in 2020.
Attributes a man you could easily regard as one of the best coaches in the modern era loved, too.
Trent Robinson, you may have heard of him, loved Mortimer.
Called him a "hero" mid-way through the Tri-colours 2013 campaign after Mortimer guided the Roosters to a stunning win over the Bulldogs during the Origin period.
It was later revealed Mortimer almost quit the club to join the Titans that pre-season, but Robinson didn't want a bar of it.
The then rookie coach knew there was more to this Mortimer than meets the eye.
"He said I was the type of player he wanted at the Roosters," Mortimer said in an interview at the time.
"From that moment, my head was back in the club because I thought I was gone. It was a big thing for me to feel wanted again."
It's huge for CYMS to have a player now at the helm of the club that's has this sort of coaching to fall back on.
You couple that insight with what makes Mortimer a serious competitor and the recipe for success is there.
From the moment the 30-year-old announced his retirement from professional rugby league at the end of the 2018 season, a return home to play in green and gold was always a matter of when, not if.
A qualified teacher, he spent more of 2019 at home his wife Tasley back on the Gold Coast and played a few games with Currumbin before CYMS announced Mortimer's signing last week.
He takes the reigns after Dom Maley guided the club in the 2019 season.
Maley did a wonderful job in tough circumstances.
Filling the void left by Mick Sullivan was always an impossible task.
Throw in the fact star fullback Tom Satterthwaite and electric three-quarter Joe Lasagavibau both didn't play a game in 2019 and then the injuries continued to pile up thereafter and you could consider CYMS fighting it out for a place in the top five right up until the final round a successful season.
CYMS won't miss the finals again in 2020.
The only question is: how far the club can go from there?
After a glittering period under Sullivan with five premierships, seven grand final appearances and four minor titles in nine seasons, the green and gold faithful almost expect success.
After a lean, two-decade period with next-to-none, they can be forgiven for enjoying the winning run over the course of the last decade.
And they can be given grace for getting a little excited about the return of a favourite son too.
Aside from Mick's wafer thin hammies, the similarities between the pair are distinct.
Those attributes I've mentioned - the drive to succeed, the toughness and ability to modify his game - they lifted Sullivan to Group 10's greatest heights.
Will they translate for Mortimer too?
It'll be harsh to throw a premiership-or-bust-type expectation on Mortimer in his two years at CYMS, but you get the feeling the man himself won't accept anything less than a crown while he's at the helm of the Group 10 club anyway.
It'd be the sort of winning mentality a coach like Trent Robinson, fresh off a third NRL title, would have no doubt instilled in one of his favourite players.
A winning mentality we'll see from CYMS in 2020.
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