When Scott Sattler talks about the unheralded influence he had on Cameron Smith’s Queensland Maroons career it is with a wry smile and his tongue firmly planted in cheek.
The 2003 premiership winner likes a good footy story, and he knows how to tell one too.
It is an often forgotten fact that Sattler was the last "hooker" to play for Queensland before Smith embarked on a record breaking 42-game Maroons career.
In 2003 the Maroons had named PJ Marsh in the opening game of the series at hooker. After losing that match, the selectors gave Michael Crocker and Sattler their State of Origin debuts for Game II and that duo of back-rowers shared the dummy-half role in a 27-4 loss in Sydney to an Andrew Johns-inspired New South Wales outfit.
"The morning after the game my old man came to Parramatta where we were staying to take me back out to Penrith," Sattler recalled.
"I went to say goodbye to all the guys and our coach Wayne Bennett said to me 'great effort last night. You had a really good game'. I thanked him and he said 'I’ll see you in a couple of weeks'.
"The next two weeks I’d had a couple of really good games for Penrith. When the Monday came to announce the Queensland team for the final game of the series I had packed my bags. I was just waiting for a phone call and for my flight details to come through."
The call came and Maroons selector Des Morris was on other end.
"I said 'g’day Des, how are you?'. He said 'I could be better'. I said 'what’s up? Are you crook?' Des said 'no, I’ve got the unfortunate job of telling you that Wayne has decided to go in another direction'," Sattler recalled.
"It was hard to hear, but I couldn’t change the situation so I said 'good luck in the third game'."
When the team was announced and Storm tyro Smith was named at hooker, Sattler’s phone rang off the hook.
"My mates starting calling me and going on about this Cameron Smith that had been picked after a few games for Melbourne," Sattler chuckled.
"They were saying 'who is this Smith bloke?' I told them he was a very good young player, but they tried to reassure me by saying 'don’t worry he won’t be there for much longer so don’t worry about it'. Of course, he only went on to become the greatest player of all time."
It is a story Sattler has told at many a rugby league function to plenty of laughs. Smith starred in Queensland's 36-6 win in Game III of 2003 and the rest is history.
"Cameron Smith doesn’t realise what an important role I played in his life. I think he’s ignored that," Sattler joked.
Sattler played hooker, lock and even defended in the centres in his only game for the Maroons.
Crocker ended up starting the game at dummy-half after Bennett had made the pair shoot it out for the starting role.
"I still remember when they were deciding who was going to start at hooker at training at Langlands Park," Sattler grinned.
"Wayne was standing there, as intimidating as he is whether you have played two first grade games or 200. He said 'Crocker…Sattler. Hit me'. He was standing about 15 metres away from dummy half. Crocker threw this pass at him and hit him down around the ankles. I thought 'how easy is this going to be'.
"So I fired a pass at Wayne and it hit him on the forehead. He certainly picked the best of a bad bunch at dummy half."
Crocker and Sattler had made their marks in the NRL as tough as teak forwards in the back row, although both had played five-eighth at various stages of their career due to their considerable ball skills. Sattler also had a grounding as a hooker.
"I was a hooker growing up until the age of 17," Sattler revealed.
"In 2001 at Penrith there were a few games where I had a phone call from an Origin selector to say that if I got in at dummy half and played some hooker it would help my chances for a utility role.
"Royce Simmons let me go in to dummy half on quite a few occasions that year so I had a background at hooker. By 2003 I was 31 and was pretty well settled as a back-rower."
Sattler was close to a Maroons call-up earlier in his career as well.
"In 1999 I was having a good year at Penrith and was in the mix. In 2000 Allan Smith was one of the selectors and told me on a number of occasions I was very close," Sattler said.
"I also realised that I had guys like Brad Thorn and Gorden Tallis ahead of me but I was playing some good footy.
"When I finally did get the call-up in 2003 it was when I was least expecting it to be honest."
That magic moment is one that Sattler still remembers as though it was yesterday.
"My young bloke was at prep and I was standing at school waiting for him to come out of class," Sattler recalled.
"My best mate Clinton O’Brien had also played Origin and won a comp with Newcastle. We’d married a set of sisters and he was also my brother-in-law. He rang me and said 'congratulations'. I said 'what for?' Then he said 'you’ve just been picked in Origin'.
"Then five minutes later I got a call from the QRL, and then from Johnny Lang and Shane Richardson. Then I realised it was fair dinkum and the next morning I was on a plane to Brisbane."
Even though the match didn't go to plan for Queensland it was a magic moment for Sattler.
"I am still really proud. I was 31 and playing one Origin was like playing 10 for me," Sattler said.
"Like every other player I’d had a lot of setbacks and I had worked really hard for it.
"It was recognition for the extras I did away from the training paddock that culminated in that night. We didn’t win the game and it was one of the most dominant performances NSW had put on for a few years with Joey Johns having one of those nights.
"I have a photo at home of me standing next to Gorden Tallis during the national anthem. I can still remember looking into the stands and not realising what stadium it was. I just realised that I was standing in a Queensland jersey after my dad had taken me to the first one in 1980.
"I was thinking 'wow, I have achieved something that I had always wanted to do since I was a kid'."
The 2003 season finished magnificently for Sattler with it culminating in the Panthers beating the Roosters in the grand final on a night where his try-saving tackle on Todd Byrne was etched in league folklore.
He credits his Origin experience for igniting a rich vein of individual form that year.
"I remember coming back from Origin and we beat the Bulldogs [28-26] at home in a cracking game," Sattler said.
"I played well, and due to the confidence that I had gained from getting my first rep jersey that was the first time that season I believed that we could go on and win the comp.
"I’d experienced Origin and watched how Gordie, Darren Lockyer and Shane Webcke prepared differently for games. I had already played more than 160 first grade games so I knew my way around the rugby league landscape but to watch those guys, even though they were younger than me, there was an aura around them because they were from the Broncos and had won so many comps."
Sattler has enjoyed a successful career since retiring at the end of the 2004 season.
He was the founding football manager at the Gold Coast Titans and has transitioned into a high profile media performer with a versatile portfolio.
"I call the NRL for Croc Media every week and commentate for Channel Nine on the Intrust Super cup every Sunday when it is on, and I have my own investigation and risk assessment firm as well," Sattler said.
"I have worked in investigations and risk for a while now since leaving the Titans and in hindsight I wish I had worked in it before I left rugby league. It has really helped my professional development."
