Steve Renouf has credited a life-changing heart-to-heart conversation with Wayne Bennett for his magnificent career and induction into the NRL Hall of Fame.
Brisbane legend Renouf, who won four premierships and scored a club record 142 tries in 183 premiership games, is one of 11 new male players inducted into the prestigious NRL pantheon of greats.
He also played 11 State of Origin games for Queensland and 11 Tests for Australia, famously scoring the winning try in the 1992 World Cup final.
Renouf, who scored four tries in a match for the Broncos on a record five occasions, is regarded as one of the greatest centres of any era.
He was a teenager with 10 first-grade matches under his belt at the end of 1989 when his life mentor and coach Bennett signed Dale Shearer on the back of recruiting two other star centres the previous year. Renouf's path to the top appeared blocked.
"When I went there in 1988 Chris Johns and Rohan Teevan were the centres, but over the course of the next two seasons Wayne signed Tony Currie, Peter Jackson and Dale Shearer," Renouf told AAP.
"I thought to myself, ‘what’s going on? I’ve got Buckley’s chance of playing centre’, because they were Queensland and Test players.
"That’s when I had the direct conversation with Wayne and questioned him that he’d just signed all these great players in my position.
"He said to me, ‘You play that well in reserve grade that I can’t keep you out, and I will pick you’. He challenged me to play my way into first grade. I took that advice on board for the rest of my career. It was a life-changing moment and Wayne was true to his word.”
From the 1991 season onwards Renouf was the first centre picked and he went on a try-scoring spree with his dazzling speed, balance and instinct.
The 1992 season was Renouf’s year.
He scored a now famous long-range try in the 1992 grand final win over St George, won the World Club Challenge with the Broncos against Wigan, and had a World Cup moment of magic when he hit a Kevin Walters pass in the closing minutes to secure a 10-6 win over Great Britain.
“The 1992 year was the one that launched my profile,” Renouf said.
“I wouldn’t have scored that World Cup final try if Kevvie hadn’t come off the bench. He forced me to accept one of his out-balls and it came off.”
Renouf, who had two memorable seasons at Wigan at the end of his career, overcame great odds to shine. He was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes at the start of the 1993 pre-season. He dealt with the condition with class for the rest of his career.
"You can have type-1 diabetes and lead a successful and healthy life. I am living proof," he said.
Renouf said he was humbled and honoured to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“Ultimately it is a credit to my family, all of my teammates at all levels, the Broncos and Wayne, who of course made me the footy player I was," he said.
"I went to the Broncos as a 17-year-old and far from perfect, but with Wayne and the team around me I became a lot better rugby league player.
"Wayne was always honest with me and the advice he gave I listened to. It worked for me."
