‘That killed me’: How dad’s act of tough love turned humble country kid into Blues icon

Laurie Daley has relived his rise from humble beginnings in Junee to premiership winning Raiders star, Blues and Kangaroos representative and now NSW Origin coach for the second time.

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The now 55-year-old had a glittering rugby league career that included 87 tries in 245 games for the Raiders from 1987 to 2000 and three premierships with the Green Machine.

Daley also scored six tries in 23 Origins for the Blues and 15 tries in 26 Tests for the Kangaroos, captaining both his state and his country.

Post career he carved out a successful TV and radio career in rugby league and has coached NSW Country, the Indigenous All Stars and the NSW Blues.

Daley’s first stint as Origin coach saw him win just one of four series in charge from 2013 to 2017, as he faced the greatest Queensland side ever, who won eight straight Origin series, a streak he broke in 2014.

It begs the question why would Daley come back for more, as he prepares for a decider against Queensland next Wednesday in his first season back after taking over from Brad Fittler.

“It’s challenging but also very exciting,” Daley told Yvonne Sampson on Fox League’s Face To Face.

“It is certainly one of the biggest sporting events in Australia and to be in charge I take it as a privilege.

“And I find to be back in that space I have really got something to offer, but there is a lot of pressure that comes with it.”

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Laurie Daley playing for Junee, the Raiders and now. Source: FOX SPORTS

Daley says he has learnt lessons from his previous tenure and has focused on building a passionate squad with a burning desire to win for their State.

“I don’t know if anything has changed in terms of the way I have approached it, but certainly you learn from things that happen in the past,” Daley said.

“And you learn about decision making and what you could do better if you got another opportunity.

“I think having a good support team around you is so important. Having a playing group that is very passionate about representing NSW is the most important thing.

“At the end of the day the players are the ones that will decide the result of the game.”

Despite boasting one of the great rugby league careers, Daley came from humble beginnings in the small country town of Junee and he admits sport was his religion.

“I loved sport,” Daley said.

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“I couldn’t wait for school to finish, I wasn’t an academic. I left at 15.

“All I wanted to do was play any sport, whether it was cricket, rugby league, AFL or whatever it was. I just wanted to be a part of it.”

Remarkably, Daley was one of eight siblings, but was the only boy growing up, but he lived next to his eight cousins, six of whom were boys.

“Most definitely, I am the favourite, so they tell me,” Daley said.

Laurie Daley is bidding for his second Origin series win as coach. Source: Getty Images

“I think the girls get a bit jealous at times because I am mum’s favourite. Only kidding.

“We grew up in a three-bedroom house. Seven girls stayed in one room in a big long line of beds in this big long room, like a dorm.

“I had my bedroom and mum and dad had their bedroom, so I was spoiled.

“I lived next door to my cousins and they had eight kids as well, but six boys, so as you can imagine I used to spend a lot of time over in their backyard, kicking the footy around, playing cricket and doing all sorts of stuff.”

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The heights of the NRL and playing for his state and country were never on Daley’s radar, whose sole focus growing up was to play for Junee.

“All I wanted to do as a kid was represent Junee and play first grade,” Daley said.

“That’s all I wanted to do in my rugby league career. I never thought that I would at any stage play in the NRL.

Lauire Daley played 245 games for the Raiders from 1987 to 2000. Source: News Limited

“I would race down really early to make sure I was a ball boy and then you would get a free pie and a coke, so that’s how you got paid.

“It wasn’t so much about the pie and the coke, but just to see how the older people spoke.

“Being inside the sheds when the first grade coach is addressing the players and listening on the outside and seeing how they trained and played, that inspired me to want to play and represent Junee.”

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When he was 15, Daley helped Junee win a competition and credits his dad with giving him the discipline that formed the building blocks of his rugby league career.

“I was just consumed with it and in Junee we were lucky we had a good group of experienced players that were there at the time I came through and I won a comp in my first year with them,” Daley said.

“Dad didn’t see a lot of me play because he was working as a train driver. But he was proud to watch his son play football when he came.

“But I remember him being really strong disciplined with me. If he ever found out that I was drinking on the weekend then it was always take your footy away from you and that killed me.

“That taught me if I wanted to be a footy player, that I have to be strong and discipline has to come with it.”

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Daley revealed his rise to the Raiders only came about because then coach Don Furner was a former premiership winning player at Junee and locals told him about this young kid playing first grade at 15.

“It was an easy one because I wasn’t keen to come to Sydney,” Daley said.

“Don Furner who was the Australian coach at the time and the Raiders coach had actually captained Junee to a premiership in the 60s.

“He knew people in town, who said, mate there is this kid over here you should come and have a look at. We think he goes all right. He’s only 15, but he is playing first grade, so you should come and have a look.

“That’s how I became a Canberra Raider.”

The rest is history.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO ON FACE TO FACEON TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7.30PM AEST ON FOX LEAGUE AND KAYO.

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