They were born in Kempsey, cousins both of indigenous heritage. Ask about how they're related, and you just get "distant". With rugby league ball in hand, they thrill. Run like the wind. Good luck catching them.
In the past couple of years, their problems were running away from them. Both found themselves in rehab, the Queenslander in Sydney and the New South Welshman in Thailand.
Return: James Roberts.
Photo: AAP
And on the weekend, they just cried. Separately.
James Roberts because he's here, playing for NSW after too many nights to count spent sleeping on spare couches and in his car as he lurched from NRL club to club and deep trouble to deeper trouble.
Greg Inglis because he's here again, not just playing – but leading – Queensland in an Origin game.
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"When I got the phone call from Kev I was a bit shocked to be honest," Inglis said. "After I got off the phone there was a lump in my throat, tears started rolling down my eyes – I was quite emotional. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would captain Queensland."
Never in his wildest dreams did Roberts think he would play for NSW.
I got a little bit teary there and I'm sure I will be close to the game as well
James Roberts
"I got a little bit teary there and I'm sure I will be close to the game as well," Roberts said. "It's been a different journey. I wouldn't change it for the world. I've learned a lot of things along the way and I'm really excited to be here."
A select few have never given up on him and he never gave up on himself. But there are many that had. There was only so much help they could provide.
"At the end of the day it was all up to me," Roberts says. "They didn't do it for me, I did it myself. They guided me a [certain] way, for sure. But it was all me in the end."
Two of the game's most powerful figures, Wayne Bennett and Phil Gould, are in his corner.
Bennett is his current coach at the Broncos, a man whose track record is dotted with whispering the right things into ears which have earlier heeded bad advice. He insists getting Roberts on the right track has been a whole-of-club approach, but there was one phone call to the NSW centre that meant as much as any other in the last few days.
"He rang me the other night and told me how proud of me he was," Roberts says. "That meant a lot. I really appreciate what he's done for me in my career, as a person mainly. I can't thank him enough and he knows that."
And then there's Gould. He gave Roberts a chance at Penrith, did everything he could for him and then let him go because he knew it was best for him.
"We always keep in contact and have a good talk when we see each other," Roberts said. "When I was at Penrith he looked after me a lot."
Experience: Greg Inglis.
Photo: AAP
But that's about as much charity as Roberts, who came into NSW camp still without a name for his days-old daughter, is prepared to talk about for the next week.
While he joked Inglis set up his first NRL try when the pair briefly played together at South Sydney, Roberts knows what's coming next week.
The serious side of Origin is that Queensland privately believe they can hit the jackpot with the older and more experienced Inglis running over the top of the younger cousin in a backyard called the Melbourne Cricket Ground, not one that backs onto the Macleay River.
Asked by his coach Kevin Walters if Roberts would skittle Queenslanders like nine pins ala Roosters defenders a fortnight ago, Inglis dead-panned: "No, that's not going to happen. Jimmy is a great player, no doubt about it. [But] it is Origin. There is a lot of pressure."
Inglis has handled it many times. His cousin is about to learn what it's like for the first time.
"He's one of the greats, if not one of the best centres to play the game," Roberts says. "I've got my hands full and I'm just looking forward to getting out there. He's a great player and a great role model."
Which is all Roberts aspires to be these days. Asked simply what has been the catalyst for his turnaround, Roberts just shrugged and replied: "maturity". He will see it across the ruck in the family man staring and storming at him at all night when he plays the biggest game of his life.
He just has to stop him.
Adam Pengilly is a Sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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