Daly set to be next Maroons captain

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TO understand why former Maroons warhorse Petero Civoniceva believes Daly Cherry-Evans is Queensland's captain-in-waiting, you need to spool back to his teenage years.

It is now common knowledge just about every NRL club didn't rate the kid from Mackay.

Fewer know the cutting words from Broncos scouts, who told Cherry-Evans he was "too slow" to play first grade. State of Origin? Tell the kid he's dreaming.

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Even fewer witnessed the work ethic that privately steeled Cherry-Evans to navigate obstacles that impeded peers who possessed superior talent but lacked his hunger.

Cherry-Evans' first senior coach, former Brisbane Wests mentor Craig Ingebrigtsen, recalls the struggle.

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Both Redcliffe and Norths told Cherry-Evans' father Troy his halfback son, then 17 and as skinny as a Kenyan marathoner, had no future in the NRL.

Daly Cherry-Evans. Picture: Peter Wallis Source: News Corp Australia

Then Ingebrigtsen rolled the dice. From that point, Cherry-Evans would be the master of his own destiny, reshaping perceptions via sheer will.

"Daly worked harder than anyone I coached," said Ingebrigtsen, now coach of last year's Intrust Super Cup grand finalists Easts Tigers. "He leaves them all for dead in terms of work ethic.

"That field goal Daly kicked last week against Newcastle to win the game, that was no fluke.

"At Wests, he would place cone markers out. He would kick at them for 30 or 40 minutes religiously after training. He would have to hit the cones a certain number of times. If he had 40 kicks, he would want 35 out of 40 hits before he was satisfied."

What else?

"He did the same with his passing game," Ingebrigtsen said. "His left-to-right pass had to be as good as his right-to-left pass. Daly would get six or seven footballs and run and pass to the left. Run and pass to the right.

"Over and over."

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This is why Cherry-Evans is playing in Origin I on Wednesday night. While critics picked apart his flaws, they missed the competitive beast within.

"I remember people saying he wasn't quick enough," Ingebrigtsen said.

"So Daly decided he would make himself faster. He didn't have a sprint coach, but he worked his arse off to improve his speed. He'd go down on the ground, get up and sprint, go down, get up and sprint.

"All this from a 17-year-old. There was no stone unturned.

"He used to come into my video sessions and pull a game apart. He'd say, 'OK, stop, look here, we can beat them through the ruck there'. Or, 'Get me a quick play-the-ball and we can get them on this edge'. I was amazed a teenager could read the game so well."

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Squeaky-clean, Cherry-Evans, at 25, is being groomed as an NRL statesman.

While Civoniceva isn't pushing Maroons skipper Cameron Smith into retirement, he says Queensland has a ready-made captaincy successor.

"Matt Scott could probably do the job after Cam but it wouldn't surprise me if Cherry-Evans gets it," he said.

"Daly has a level head and the respect of his peers. He would be an excellent captain and he can learn a lot about leadership from Cam Smith."

"He was never a captain of sides I had, but he had leadership traits," he said.

"At Wests, he was the bloke who pushed the side around the field and the players responded to him.

"You see by the way he carries himself, he's an ambassador for the game. The way he speaks to the media, the way he conducts himself, he's an immaculate leader.

"You don't hear about him ever being in strife. There are no airs and graces about him ... he is the perfect example for any young kid out there who aspires to play in the NRL."

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