It took less than one pre-season for Ivan Cleary and Peter Wallace to see a future leader in Isaah Yeo.
Already earmarked after winning the under-20s premiership with Penrith in his maiden season in Sydney, Yeo was 19 when handed his first chance at training with the NRL squad.
"He always had the leadership qualities, right from day one," Wallace, who captained Penrith in 2014 and is now one of Cleary's assistants, said.
"He came from Dubbo, did his first pre-season and debuted in round one in the centres.
"It was probably well before he thought he was ready, but he handled it unbelievably. You could always tell he had leadership qualities about him.
"It was just his persona, a very calm head and level-headed.
"Even when he would go back to reserve grade, as a young guy he still led with his actions and people followed him."
Yeo will on Wednesday night become the 22nd man to lead the Blues in State of Origin, and the first Panther to take the reins since Brad Fittler in 1995.
Leadership is far from new to the 30-year-old.
He and Nathan Cleary have taken Penrith to the past four premierships as co-captains, while last year he became Australia's Test skipper.
As a captain, Yeo is far from overstated.
He credits Wallace with helping mould him, with the former halfback putting an onus on knowing when to talk and holding yourself to the highest standards.
There are also elements from Kevin Kingston, who was Penrith's other captain in 2014 and guided several of Yeo's cohort.
Yeo's strength lies in that calmness, something that is innate with his country upbringing.
"What Wal brought that Yeoy does as well is just that consistency around being a leader," Nathan Cleary said.
"They are never in and out, they are always there. They always say the right thing at the right time and just galvanise everyone.
"The way he can articulate each situation is his strength, and also his consistency. I think that's super important as a leader.
"No matter how the game is going and how tired he is, he always finds a way to say the right thing at the right time. That's really important.
"It's like he's just looking over everyone as we're going and keeping everyone attentive and in the group."
Yeo will lead training again on Saturday when NSW return to the field in the Blue Mountains, after players were given Friday off.
The Penrith lock is well aware that the Origin role fits slightly differently, labelling the appointment as one of the biggest moments of his career.
Regardless, he will not budge from what has made him the leader he is at Penrith.
"Everyone seems to want to know what kind of captain I will be," Yeo said.
"I will be myself. I do a good job of keeping myself accountable and then off the back of that you can hold others accountable.
"I don't try to overthink it. I feel like if I do a good job internalising what I feel like is important. That's held me in good stead so far."
Yeo has evolved from the teenager who hit Penrith NRL training for the first time in late 2013. But the same core traits have remained.
"He always had those leadership qualities," Kingston, who is now Penrith's welfare manager, said.
"He's really good at speaking to the group and assessing moments and things like that.
"He's got an incredible memory and he doesn't overplay his hand when he talks.
"He's calm by nature. That temperament has always been him, and it's his strength as well."
