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MICHAEL JENNINGS might not be the best Jennings playing at Etihad Stadium tomorrow night. If you ask those closest to Jennings's family, and even Jennings himself, the best might be on show in the curtain-raiser.
Jennings's younger brother, Robert, will play for the NSW under-16s side tomorrow night, just before Michael, the Test and State of Origin centre, takes the field in the main game.
''He's a quality player,'' Jennings said. ''I've heard he's better than me when I was young - I've had a lot of people tell me. There's people in Penrith who say the same thing I doubt it though.''
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So, for all the rhetoric about Blues brothers that we have heard in the past week, there will only be two true pairs of brothers on show tomorrow night, the Stewart boys and the Jennings.
With a seven-year age difference between the pair, Jennings, the Penrith centre, has never been able to play with or against Robert. But he said it would mean a lot to him to play at the same arena as him, on the same night, both wearing NSW blue.
''It's good to see my younger brother following in my footsteps,'' Jennings said. ''I'm happy for him. Hopefully he gets a good experience from this and moves on from there.
''I'm very proud of him. I've heard some good stuff He's really focused. I see myself in him when I was his age, which is a good sign.''
Explaining what he meant, Jennings said he did all the extras that others didn't when he was that age. He knows that Robert also possesses that commitment.
''He doesn't actually tell me he looks up to me,'' Jennings said. ''He's a quiet kid but, you know, everything I'm doing he's paying attention to. I know that the things he's doing are the same things I did when I was younger. In terms of football and off the field, all the extras and the commitment.
''I've heard he's been going really well - it's a credit to him. He's been really smart off the field, and doing a lot of extras and really committing himself to wanting to play footy and make it.''
Family has been a significant influence on Jennings's sport. But his family has also been a significant influence on sport in general.
As he prepared to write a new chapter in his family's list of sporting achievements tomorrow night, Jennings spoke of the role one of his relatives, Arthur Jennings - who played six matches for the All Blacks - had on his family. Then he spoke of his 13-year-old cousin, Leroy Jennings, who has impressed David Beckham during a trial with LA Galaxy.
Another of his brothers, George, plays for Penrith's under-20s side, and scored a try against North Queensland in Townsville last Saturday night. Then, rather matter of factly, Jennings also says he is related to Feleti Mateo, through his father's side of the family.
There is another link, although not a sporting one (and a tenuous one). Jennings has heard the rumours that he is related to the king of Tonga, but his own king of Tonga is his father, Antonio, who along with mother, Vialata, will be watching Michael and his younger brother in Melbourne tomorrow night.
''The person I am now I build myself around my family,'' Jennings said. ''My family's the No.1 priority in my list.''
Clearly, it's some family.
*www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/state-of-ori...-20120521-1z1en.html
Jennings's younger brother, Robert, will play for the NSW under-16s side tomorrow night, just before Michael, the Test and State of Origin centre, takes the field in the main game.
''He's a quality player,'' Jennings said. ''I've heard he's better than me when I was young - I've had a lot of people tell me. There's people in Penrith who say the same thing I doubt it though.''
Advertisement: Story continues below
So, for all the rhetoric about Blues brothers that we have heard in the past week, there will only be two true pairs of brothers on show tomorrow night, the Stewart boys and the Jennings.
With a seven-year age difference between the pair, Jennings, the Penrith centre, has never been able to play with or against Robert. But he said it would mean a lot to him to play at the same arena as him, on the same night, both wearing NSW blue.
''It's good to see my younger brother following in my footsteps,'' Jennings said. ''I'm happy for him. Hopefully he gets a good experience from this and moves on from there.
''I'm very proud of him. I've heard some good stuff He's really focused. I see myself in him when I was his age, which is a good sign.''
Explaining what he meant, Jennings said he did all the extras that others didn't when he was that age. He knows that Robert also possesses that commitment.
''He doesn't actually tell me he looks up to me,'' Jennings said. ''He's a quiet kid but, you know, everything I'm doing he's paying attention to. I know that the things he's doing are the same things I did when I was younger. In terms of football and off the field, all the extras and the commitment.
''I've heard he's been going really well - it's a credit to him. He's been really smart off the field, and doing a lot of extras and really committing himself to wanting to play footy and make it.''
Family has been a significant influence on Jennings's sport. But his family has also been a significant influence on sport in general.
As he prepared to write a new chapter in his family's list of sporting achievements tomorrow night, Jennings spoke of the role one of his relatives, Arthur Jennings - who played six matches for the All Blacks - had on his family. Then he spoke of his 13-year-old cousin, Leroy Jennings, who has impressed David Beckham during a trial with LA Galaxy.
Another of his brothers, George, plays for Penrith's under-20s side, and scored a try against North Queensland in Townsville last Saturday night. Then, rather matter of factly, Jennings also says he is related to Feleti Mateo, through his father's side of the family.
There is another link, although not a sporting one (and a tenuous one). Jennings has heard the rumours that he is related to the king of Tonga, but his own king of Tonga is his father, Antonio, who along with mother, Vialata, will be watching Michael and his younger brother in Melbourne tomorrow night.
''The person I am now I build myself around my family,'' Jennings said. ''My family's the No.1 priority in my list.''
Clearly, it's some family.
*www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/state-of-ori...-20120521-1z1en.html
