When the stories of the careers of Mitchell Pearce and Jake Friend are written, it will be said that the making of them came at their lowest moments.
The pair were unveiled as Sydney Roosters co-captains for the 2015 season, replacing the retired Anthony Minichiello, and completing their journey to maturity following their sometimes strife-filled younger days.
Friend had his Roosters contract torn up in 2009 following a string of run-ins with police but has gone to great lengths to repair the damage to his name and grown enormously away from the field.
The often-maligned Pearce last year endured being dumped as NSW's halfback after a late night incident in Kings Cross.
Rooster coach Trent Robinson says the common thread between the two is that they came out the other side of their youthful indiscretions as better people.
Friend was facing life on the rugby league scrapheap and was risking squandering his talent.
Instead of washing their hands of him, the Roosters played a big role in rebuilding his life, providing him with counselling and getting him a job as a kitchenhand at a Surry Hills cafe.
"I'd like to think the club had a huge part in guiding him and supporting him," Robinson said.
"But in the end a lot of players have to make the right choice and they're the ones that decide whether they're going to improve their character and use it as growth rather than as a handbrake.
"That's what Jake did - he learnt from it, knew what he wanted out of his playing career, but also out of him as a person and that's how he developed.
"There's usually two ways that people go and he's decided on the positive one."
Friend is a hard-nosed, nuggety hooker with an impeccable workrate and is considered one of the leading contenders for the Maroons No.9 jersey when Cameron Smith retires from representative football.
A shy kid from Noosa on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, public speaking hasn't always come easy for him and he admits it "scared me a bit" when he was told by Robinson he was in contention for the captaincy during the pre-season.
Friend, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and expected back in mid-April, said being installed in the club's leadership group in 2013 led him to change the way he carried himself.
"(Captaining the club) is never really something I thought about at the start," he said.
"I've been in the leadership group for two years now and it's something I've enjoyed and been challenging.
"But I'm just stoked me and Pearcey have been chosen and to see what we can do."
Pearce described last season as a turning point in his career and life.
He said the heartache of losing the NSW jumper had helped him to dig deeper and unlock how to get the best out of himself.
"Last year I took a lot more responsibility in my life," he said.
"I tried to be a man rather than a little boy.
"I'm glad that it's paid dividends."
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Boyd Cordner have been named as the Roosters' vice-captains.
Share
