Before Matt King became Matt King, NSW Blues head coach, he was many things.
Premiership winner. Origin player. International rugby league star. The Matt King most know, think tall, strong, fast and with a head of hair that resembles a side-show character more than an athlete, was always at the top of his game.
But the Matt King before all of those things was on a different path.
And it's one that come May and June next year - when the Origin whips are cracking - should give all NSW supporters much to savour.
It was a Sunday afternoon at Wade Park in 2014 when we got a glimpse at the real Matt King.
King drove over the mountains, six months into his retirement, to get bashed up in a Group 10 local derby in Orange.
Why? Just to pay back a mate who let him sleep on his couch when he was a 22-year-old garbo ready to quit the game.
Rewind to 2002. King's dream of playing top-flight rugby league was effectively dead.
A severe shoulder injury playing reserve grade for Cronulla had shattered more than just his body - he'd given up.
Claiming disinterest, he told this masthead ahead of that derby in 2014 that he'd packed his bags and walked away from the sport entirely.
He took a job pulling beers behind a bar. He hauled bins on the back of a garbage truck.
He was a million miles away from the bright lights of Suncorp Stadium or the NRL grand final. Or even Group 10 footy, for that matter.
During those dark, uncertain months in the Shire, trying to figure out his next move, he relied on a lifeline offered by Mick Sullivan.
Sullivan gave King a place to crash on his lounge room couch, a feed when he needed it, and an unshakeable support network.
King eventually found his fire again, took the scenic route through the Queensland Cup, and built one hell of a career out of the game.
But he never forgot the bloke who kept a roof over his head when he was at rock bottom.
Fast forward to 2014. Sullivan was captain-coaching Orange CYMS.
King had just officially hung up the boots after a storied career with the Storm, Warrington, Souths, NSW and Australia. He didn't need the money, and he certainly didn't need the bruised ribs.
Yet, when Sullivan called asking for a favour ahead of a massive round one derby against the Orange Hawks, King didn't send a signed jersey.
He drove over the Blue Mountains with a pair of boots.
Sully was really good to me when I was younger. Before I linked up with Melbourne, there was a stage where I was living on his lounge in Cronulla ... this is one chance for me to give something back to him, to repay him.
King hadn't made a tackle in six months, but he didn't make the trip west to make an impact without the footy.
He turned Wade Park into the 'Kingdome'. Playing in the centres, King attacked the game with the same unflappable enthusiasm that defined his career, scoring a try, setting up three others and claiming man-of-the-match honours in a 42-24 CYMS victory.
He walked off the pitch, smiling through the mud, calling it a "really fun afternoon".
The crowds mobbed King. He spent ages on the field post game, and before the game for that matter, taking pictures with fans and speaking with players and club officials.
That single afternoon in Orange speaks volumes about the man who is now charged with lifting the NSW Blues to back-to-back series wins for the first time since 2019.
Footy is not a complicated game. Origin even less so.
The biggest, toughest competition in Australian sport, Origin is won on character. It is won on blood, grit and an absolute refusal to let down the bloke standing next to you.
That is why Matt King is the right appointment at the right time for the Blues.
King isn't a product of a squeaky-clean pathway program. He didn't have his career handed to him on a silver platter.
He knows what it's like to sweat on the back of a garbage truck. He knows what it's like to watch the game leave you behind.
And he knows the deep, unconditional bond of bush footy - where you play for your mates, your town.
His connection to country rugby league isn't an act. Long before that 2014 derby, he ventured to all parts of the state presenting premiership medals, and he made a point of getting back to his roots in Casino whenever he could.
He genuinely understands that the beating heart of New South Wales rugby league doesn't lie at that lavish NSWRL headquarters at Homebush - it lives in places like Orange, Dubbo, Mudgee and Forbes.
As a coach, King brings elite technical knowledge from his time on the coaching staffs at South Sydney and the Roosters. Many deem King a NRL head coach in waiting.
But more importantly, he brings an authentic, unbreakable ethos.
When he stands in front of Blues players next year and talks about sacrifice, loyalty and digging deep for your state, they won't be listening to empty sentiment.
They'll be listening to a bloke who lived it - from a couch in Cronulla to the mud in the Wade Park pitch, all the way to the state's top job.
"I'm very clear on what it looks like to be the Head Coach of NSW," King said after being confirmed as Blues head coach.
"I have a true understanding of what it means to lead this great state of ours and I can't wait for that opportunity.
"The one true rugby league love of my life has been the NSW Blues. To know now that I have the opportunity to guide the team moving forward, to lead the program over the next little period, means the absolute world to me.
"I promise everyone out there that you'll have my full and undivided attention and I'll give it my absolute all to nail the role as best that I can."
