BOYD Cordner was always bound to be something special.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just ask the junior rugby league coach who had a grand final ripped away due to the brilliance of the now-New South Wales captain.
Ben Cudmore coached the Port Macquarie Sharks under-16 team against Old Bar Pirates in the season decider in 2008.
That Old Bar team featured a fresh-faced Cordner in the halves and Cudmore said it was obvious he was on the path to glory.
Cudmore was left with the thankless task of creating a game plan to minimise Cordner’s effectiveness against his team.
“He was massive for them because he played five-eighth, stood two foot taller than everyone else and had a huge impact on the game,” Cudmore said.
“The boys were always talking about him before the game saying “Boyd’s back” so we tried to work a game plan around that as best we could.”
The Sharks were beaten 16-10 on the day and Cordner was instrumental to their win.
Cudmore only coached against the current New South Wales State of Origin captain for two games that season.
He wasn’t surprised to see the Roosters lock forward make the progression into the State of Origin arena.
“He always had plenty of talent and you could tell he was always going to be something.
“You can tell with how blokes go about doing things from a young age. Boyd was always pretty professional especially in the under-16s because that’s when you can tell when blokes are switched on.”
24-year-old Cordner will lead the Blues onto Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night in his first match as state captain since the departure of Paul Gallen.
His dad, Chris, will be in the stands as will his older brother, Dane, who now lives in Newcastle.
When he was in year six, Cordner made three state primary school teams in rugby league, rugby union and touch.
“He first met James Tedesco in that state touch team,’’ his dad said.
He always had plenty of talent and you could tell he was always going to be something.
- Ben Cudmore
Tedesco has been named fullback for the Blues and will join Cordner at the Roosters next year.
Chris was given early notice about his son’s selection as captain.
“He rang me as soon as Laurie Daley let him know,’’ Chris said.
“That was before the team was announced, so I had to keep it quiet. I said to him, ‘well done mate, you deserve it.’ ’’
Port Macquarie’s Jeremy Latimore will be another interested spectator on Wednesday night.
Latimore currently plays for Cronulla, but played in Cordner’s debut game in 2011 when he was playing with the New Zealand Warriors.
“He had just come out of juniors at the time and I rated him highly,” he said.
An ankle syndesmosis injury two years later gave an insight into Cordner’s mental strength.
“He was back for the grand final that year which was about seven weeks later which showed that he’s mentally as tough as anyone,” Latimore said.
“That’s half the battle.”
Latimore was confident Cordner was the tough leader New South Wales simply had to choose.
“He’s an outstanding leader, a selfless player and he’ll go well on Wednesday night.”