IN THE final round of the 1998 season, four-year-old Curtis Sironen led Balmain out on to Leichhardt Oval in his father Paul's final game for his beloved Tigers.
Fourteen years and a joint venture later, the same head-strap wearing son of a legend is being groomed as the leader of generation next at the Tigers - just don't tell Tim Sheens.
While Paul's still trying to get his teenage son to clean up around the house, Sheens doesn't want to burden his newest five-eighth with the weight of expectation associated with continuing the Sironen legacy. But we'll come around to that later.
Curtis Sironen in action for Wests Tigers during the 40-0 thrashing of Canberra last weekend. Photo: Getty Images
Back to Leichhardt Oval and that night on August 22, 1998, when Paul waved farewell to the Tigers faithful and Curtis gained a glimpse of what life would be like one day when he and younger brother Bayley followed their father on a lap of honour.
''I remember it clearly,'' Paul said. ''It was a special night and very emotional being my last game. Having both my boys involved in my lap of honour afterwards was terrific. Curtis led us out from the tunnel on to the field. I'd imagine he's a bit too young to remember it but it was definitely special for me.''
Balmain's No.1 fan, Laurie Nichols, would be looking down from heaven with great pride of what has eventuated in the 12 years since his passing. The children, sons of Balmain greats he watched run around the sheds at Leichhardt over the years, have now formed identities of their own.
And if all is well, Curtis will play his first game at Leichhardt Oval against the Roosters next Sunday afternoon, the same team his father played against in his last game at the ground.
''It's strange,'' Paul said. ''I remember Mitchell Pearce when he was our ballboy running around at training, now he's up there playing Origin football and Curtis is in the NRL. Garry Jack's young boy [Kieren] is at the Swans, Blocker's young bloke [Liam Roach] is running around too, and I've got my fingers crossed AJ [Aidan Roach] makes the Olympic water polo team. It's amazing to think that all the kids that used to run around the sheds at Leichhardt Oval are all carving their own careers in different sports.''
Fast forward to June 8, 2012, and Kieren Jack is preparing to play his 100th game in the AFL on Saturday, Mitchell Pearce is in NSW Origin camp and Curtis will wear the Tigers' No.6 jersey, made famous by Benji Marshall, for the first time when he runs out against Melbourne at AAMI Park tonight.
Sheens admitted he had been guilty of ''ruining'' players in the past by rushing them into first grade. He doesn't want to make the same mistake with the 18-year-old.
''There's a lot of hype around him because he's Paul's son, and I don't think that's fair on the kid,'' Sheens said. ''He's had 1½ games for us. At this stage, he's a good junior coming through with a lot of issues in front of him before we can start predicting he'll be the six for the club for the next 10 years. Some kids never look back, some plateau and others fall. Curtis has still got two years left in the [under] 20s.''
Curtis sacrificed a week away with his mates at Schoolies after finishing the HSC last year, opting to have surgery on his shoulder in a bid to return early this season.
Three games back from his operation, in which he only played a full game once, Sheens handed the former Holy Cross Ryde High School student his debut against North Queensland in Round 12, coming off the bench early in the second half.
Sironen was originally named on the bench but started at five-eighth last week, scoring his first NRL try in the 40-0 romp over the Raiders. Unfortunately, his family weren't there to see it.
''We were all at Campbelltown for his debut but we didn't get down to Canberra last week,'' Paul said. ''We all got together to watch it, a big group of close family and friends. There was a massive roar when he scored, which was lovely.
On Paul's 47th birthday, just four days before Curtis's debut, his youngest son Bayley represented the NSW under-16s against Queensland in the State of Origin curtain-raiser at Etihad Stadium, the start of a special week for one of the Wests Tigers' second-rowers of the century (Arthur Beetson is the other).
Tonight was meant to be a battle of the Sironen boys, with Paul's nephew Damian Sironen, who is making a name for himself at the Storm, expected to line up against Curtis in the under-20s.
But it hasn't quite gone to plan.
