League: Inglis rose blooming on toughest testing ground

Greg Inglis is undoubtedly one of the hottest properties on the rugby league block but it could have been a very different story if he had followed in the footsteps of his father.

The gifted Aborigine's father Wade had been one of the best league players in the area and had a trial with the Panthers but effectively chucked it all away when he developed a love affair with the bottle.

The younger Inglis, too, could often be found out drinking with the boys into the early hours, even when he had already been snapped up by the Storm as a 14-year-old.

He skipped school, hung out with the wrong crowd and generally got into trouble until a stern talking to from his parents set him on the straight and narrow.

"He [my dad] pretty much pushed me not to screw up and make the same mistakes he did," Inglis said. "He said, 'you've got a real chance'."

Inglis has taken that chance and his mum and dad will be two of the last people he will talk to before he runs out to make his much-anticipated State of Origin debut for Queensland on Wednesday night.

His parents are the people he turns to when times are tough.

They are the same people an excited Inglis called just seconds after learning of his Origin selection from Queensland coach Mal Meninga.

It's sometimes easy to forget that Inglis is still a kid. The 19-year-old has taken the NRL by storm, pardon the pun, since marking his Melbourne debut last year with a try.

When he followed that up with a remarkable double against the Bulldogs in a man-of-the-match performance, it was clear the Storm had a star in the making. He has even joined the ranks of wunderkind, headed by Benji Marshall, Sonny Bill Williams and Karmichael Hunt.

Unlike the other three, however, New Zealand can't stake a claim for the utility back but he's still been subjected to a stringent custody battle.

Having grown up in Blues country in the New South Wales north coast town of Macksville, he even represented NSW as a junior before moving to Brisbane when he was 15 as part of the Melbourne Storm feeder programme. When he wore a Brisbane Norths jumper in 2004, he was locked in to play for the Maroons.

Despite his roots, it was what Inglis wanted. "I grew up in New South Wales and only lived up here [in Brisbane] for a year-and-a-bit but I've always felt more of a Maroon than a Blue," he told the Herald on Sunday this week on his way to Queensland training. "I supported them as a kid. I just liked the names of those that played for them and the style of football they played."

Storm scout Peter O'Sullivan was impressed from the moment he first saw a 14-year-old Inglis play at a junior carnival at Port Macquarie. As the story goes, Inglis picked the ball up from the base of the scrum, put up a chip kick and regathered to score under the posts. "I'd seen enough right then," O'Sullivan remembered. Inglis was signed the following day.

In his short 22-game NRL career, he's already posted 16 tries, including nine in as many games in 2006, and it was little surprise when he was included in Meninga's squad. The youngster, who has filled in more than capably for the suspended Billy Slater at fullback, has been selected to start on the wing on Wednesday but he can also slot into the centres.

Already the comparisons with former stars have been forthcoming, with Inglis likened to David Peachey and Laurie Daley. Inglis, though, is trying not to get too carried away - at least not publicly.

"It doesn't affect me," was his straightforward response to how he deals with the hype. "As long as you keep your feet on the ground, your head out of the papers and don't read about yourself, you'll be all good. It's just a matter of doing your job the next time you play."

That next time just happens to be one of the biggest games on the league calendar - a game that, as the marketers like to say, pits mate against mate and state against state.

Inglis is one of seven debutants in the Queensland side, which might take some of the pressure off the youngster with the electric pace, blindingly good step and deceptive strength.

But there is also enough experience and quality in there to cause an upset. "There are some big names there," Inglis said, presumably taking a look around the team bus. "But they make me feel welcome and I feel welcome. I don't feel out of place at all."

He might be young and he might be inexperienced but out of place is not how you would describe Greg Inglis.