Kane Elgey refused to hold Daly Cherry-Evans' Gold Coast backflip against him, revealing a moment of kindness led him to dismiss any preconceptions about the Manly skipper.
Elgey and Cherry-Evans look set to form a partnership in the Sea Eagles halves this NRL season following the 25-year-old's move from the Titans to Sydney's northern beaches.
The pair were expected to be teammates at the Gold Coast in 2016 but that was scuppered when Cherry-Evans reneged and inked an eight-year $10 million deal to stay at Manly.
In the aftermath, the representative playmaker became public enemy No.1 for Titans fans and has routinely been booed at Cbus Super Stadium since.
But Elgey said he came to Brookvale with only a positive opinion of Cherry-Evans following an unsolicited offer to tutor him on halfback play.
"Two years ago I played him at home on the Gold Coast," Elgey told AAP.
"It was around that time (of the backflip). At the end of the game he said to me 'do you want to catch up at the end of the year and just work on your game?'
"I was sort of like 'woah'. We have the same player agent but that wasn't really related.
"After that I said 'holy crap'. And he said he didn't have that (help) growing up. That was amazing and ever since then we sort of kept in contact.
"You hear stuff about people but you've got to meet them before you can judge."
While Elgey never got the chance to pick the brains of the Queensland and Australian No.7, he said Cherry-Evans had gone out of his way to take him under his wing since signing with the Sea Eagles.
Elgey comes into his first season at Manly attempting to reignite his career and will battle it out with Trent Hodkinson during the upcoming trials for a starting spot.
Born and bred on the Gold Coast, Elgey had a breakout 2015 season but has struggled ever since, having missed all of 2016 with an ACL injury.
"I had two years struggling pretty bad with footy. I will admit that. I wanted to come here for a new start," Elgey said.
"I was at the Gold Coast for nine years and you're in your comfort zone for so long.
"I just want to be happy ... I just want to get that bit of mojo back."
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