Rookie Rabbitohs halfback Jamie Humphreys believes his family's strong connection to rugby league will be the catalyst for his younger siblings to follow suit and establish NRL careers.
Humphreys, who kicked a match winning field goal for South Sydney against St George Illawarra in just his third NRL appearance, is a third-generation premiership player.
The 23-year-old's father, Stephen, played 42 first grade matches for Balmain between 1983 and 198, while his grandfather, Kevin, made 43 top grade appearances for the Tigers between 1953 to 1956.
Both became administrators after their playing careers, with Kevin Humphreys playing an instrumental role in the development of the State of Origin series, and served on the NSWRL board.
The rugby league pedigree also continues with Stephen Humpreys becoming CEO for the Manly Sea Eagles between 2019 and 2022.
Being a third generation player, Humphreys has claimed that this will be influential for his younger brothers to motivate them to become first-grade players.
"It's pretty cool, I know my grandmother is really proud, so is my Mum and my Dad.
My Grandad up there would be very proud watching down.
I've got a few younger brothers who love their footy as well, hopefully I can be a bit of an inspiration for them", Humphreys said.
The South Sydney halfbacks strong start to the season has cemented his chances in becoming the long-term halves choice for the club, after departing the Sea Eagles last year.
Humphreys was instrumental in the Rabbitohs win over the St George Illawarra Dragons last Saturday, kicking a field goal in the late stages of the game eventuating as the match winner.
Despite being without star players Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Murray, the Rabbitohs have won both of their games to start the season.
"That's what we spoke about in there (locker room), doing our job no matter who's in the team.
"There's two points on the line every week in the NRL, making sure we put our best foot forward for our teammates is the most important thing. I feel like we've done that in the last two weeks and something we're gonna need to keep doing as the season goes on," Humphreys said.
Rabbitohs captain Cody Walker commended Humphreys playmaking vision to be able to put their side in-front with less than five minutes before full-time.
"I said to him after the game, I said 'Were you even thinking about a field goal? He said 'yeah', I said that was the last thing on my mind at that point," Walker said.
He's pretty calm, he doesn't say a lot off the field. When he comes onto the field he is just a competitor, he barks orders and gets us around the park a fair bit.
He does a lot of work before training on his body and prep."
With three games of NRL experience under his belt, Humphreys is expected to cement his spot as the Rabbitohs halfback moving forward for the rest of the season.
