by Peter Badel From: The Courier-Mail June 09, 2011 12:00AM
PARRAMATTA botched plans to sign Queensland skipper Darren Lockyer as a 16-year-old, Eels stalwart Steve Ella has revealed.
Lockyer will break Allan Langer's Origin record with his 35th appearance on Wednesday night at Sydney's ANZ Stadium.
But Lockyer could easily have been snapped up by the Eels, and earned Origin eligibility with NSW, after Ella became the first scout to spot him as an unknown teen at a Queensland schoolboys carnival.
A proud Queenslander who idolised Wally Lewis, Lockyer always dreamed of representing the Maroons, making a NSW defection remote, but yesterday he confirmed the surprise approach to him from Parramatta.
By playing his first senior football in NSW, Lockyer would have been eligible to play for the Blues and would no doubt have faced pressure early in his career to switch allegiance.
Former NSW centre Ella met Lockyer and recommended him to Parramatta, viewing the young playmaker as the ideal successor to retired five-eighth great Brett Kenny. Ella said the Eels inexplicably ignored his advice.
Lockyer attracted the attention of the Broncos and will become Queensland's most capped player next Wednesday.
"After seeing Darren play, I came back to Parra management and I said, 'You need to sign this kid, he's the best I've ever seen'," said Ella, who played eight Origin games for NSW from 1983-85.
"Of all the places I travelled to, he was miles ahead of any kid I saw in terms of how he read the game. I thought, 'God, this kid is a freak'.
"I spoke to Darren after that carnival. I said, 'Are you interested in playing for Parra?' and he said, 'definitely'.
"I had no doubt the kid would make the grade but the Eels management said they already had a five-eighth and I believe they never made the phone call (to Lockyer).
"I was disappointed about it."
Parramatta's five-eighth options at the time of Ella's approach to Lockyer in 1994 were Keith Blackett and Michael Buettner.
The club's greatest five-eighth, Kenny retired in 1993, two years before Lockyer made his first-grade debut, coincidentally against the Eels in Brisbane's 60-14 victory.
"I remember it," Lockyer said. "Steve Ella was the first guy to come and talk to my family.
"As a kid you knew the scouts who were watching and I remember the boys from Roma (where Lockyer grew up) would go to Sydney for trials.
"It would have been a big move for me at that age and I was always keen to try my luck with the Broncos.
"It wasn't long after (Ella) saw me that I got a scholarship with the Broncos and that's how it has played out."
Ella, who scored 94 tries in 156 games for Parramatta, isn't surprised Lockyer has become a Test and Origin icon.
"He was the standout the day I saw him," he said. "He obviously had talent but it was also the way he read the game. He had time to do things other playmakers struggled to do and that was a huge attraction.
"Ever since, I've taken a special interest in Darren.
"The Broncos did well to snap him up. He's become one of the greatest players Australia has produced."
Lockyer has won four premierships with Brisbane. Parramatta's last title was in 1986.
