Insight into what made retired Queensland State of Origin captain Cameron Smith tick

CAMERON Smith’s legacy will live on through the person he has become, not just through his rugby league achievements, according to his father Wayne Smith.

Retired Queensland State of Origin captain Cameron Smith. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

IF YOU were one of the parents who came and went from Logan Brothers home ground in the era when retired Queensland Origin captain Cameron Smith was training, you would never have seen him cut corners doing a lap of the oval.

His father Wayne instilled that work ethic in him long before he became Melbourne, Queensland and Australian captain.

“I used to say to Cam that Jack Gibson (rugby league coaching great) had a saying: ‘You can’t walk around like a mug all week and be a champion on game day.’

“I told him what you continually do you become. If you cut corners that will happen in your life.

“So in a football sense if you cut corners during the week you will cut corners in a game and that is what Cam runs with — good preparation.

“He understands you don’t worry about the results, you worry about the process, that preparation is the key.’’

Cameron Smith playing for Storm.

That insight into Cameron Smith’s world gives admirers a hint about what has made him at all levels, including State of Origin level where he has graced for the last time following today’s (Tuesday) shock announcement.

From humble beginnings at Marsden State High School, Smith now sits alongside Wally Lewis, Johnathan Thurston and Arthur Beetson as the state’s greatest player. Some say he is the greatest player in living memory — and with good reason.

Just like Wally Lewis, Smith can speed a game up, slow it down, find space with a kick or create a try when his side is in need.

He is a footballing genius.

Cameron Smith as Australian captain.

But Wayne said what his mother Sonia, himself and family was most proud of was the person he had become. “Records fade as time goes by,’’ Wayne said.

“With Cam, I said to him your character will outlast anything you do on the football field.

“We are proud of is what he has achieved on the field but we are more proud of the person he has become. That is what we will carry him through the rest of his life.’’