It's the nature of things these days that most fans don't need a play by play account of what happened on a given afternoon - the journo's job isn't to tell punters the score, it's to tell them the story.

A case in point was Cody Ramsey's debut a fortnight ago. The performance, and the journey he'd been on was the story of that match, not the result that went pretty much as expected.

There was a particular small moment that caught your columnist's eye in the aftermath to Ramsey's first try. He was naturally swamped by teammates, but the ball boy also got involved - on that afternoon it was young-gun Jayden Sullivan.

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With Ramsey having crossed in the corner he was roaming, Sullivan couldn't help but get involved in the celebration. It was something that could easily go unnoticed but subsequent investigations reveal how much that moment says about the type of young bloke Sullivan is.

For all his own prodigious talent, the 19-year-old relishes the success and big moments of his teammates like few others of his ilk. It was a point that came up in conversation with his former SG Ball coach Benny Linde after Sullivan was named to make his NRL debut this weekend.

"For a young man that age to have the talent he's got, you usually get a fair bit of ego too," Linde says.

"Sully's unique in the way that he's so team-first, he really cares about his teammates and creating that environment. He just bought into what we were about and the values we had... it just comes natural to him, it's the way he is."

Sullivan was the linchpin of that Illawarra side that claimed the Steelers first SG Ball title since 1996 last year. He was the star, in a side with no shortage of them, but that's rarely what gets teams over the line at that level.

"We had a talented side, but good people, they were great young kids, every one of them," Linde said.

"It's good to have leaders in the team that reflect those values. Sully just took ownership of the side, both the Feagai boys [Mat and Max] just demanded respect with how hard they worked and the way they carried themselves off the field.

"It does rub off right across the group and we were fortunate enough to get everyone on the same wavelength."

It's rare, even in the most talented sides. To see how valuable it can be, you only need to look at Penrith's minor premiership run in the NRL this season, powered by a bunch of local juniors who came through the ranks together.

You've gotta love the swagger too, Brian To'o with the boombox and the likes of Jerome Luai, Stephen Chrichton, Tyrone May all loving every moment of it.

It's part good fortune, part good management. Few will say it publicly, but there are NRL clubs who question the value of bringing juniors through. Why put all the sweat into it if they can just be poached down the track?

Look closely though and it's pretty apparent that spending money to bring guys in is also fraught - it's clear this year that the Dragons top-paid players aren't playing to those salaries.

The Panthers have shown the value in it - possibly the ultimate value. Talent is one thing, the bond is another... and it's not something you can manufacture after the fact.

Is there shades of the Panthers current crop in this emerging Steelers mob?

"I definitely see similarities there," Linde said.

"What I like about Penrith is that they're really enjoying what they're doing. They haven't lost for quite a while so that helps, but they celebrate all the small things.

"They really care about each other and making sure that good stuff is acknowledged. I love that and there's a lot of similarities there to the group we had.

"I was talking to [assistant] Paul Hatchell the other day and he said 'mate look at this Penrith side, look how they celebrate everything. Gee it reminds me of the feel we had last year'. It's how it was, the boys just celebrated everything and created an environment where people just wanted to be."

It goes some way to explaining Sullivan's jubilant reaction to Ramsey's try that afternoon. Sullivan will debut this weekend alongside Max Feagai, who made his last week.

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They're signed with the club until 2022. Mat Feagai and fellow 2019 premiership-winner - and current SG Ball skipper - Jackson Shereb are also locked down until then. Junior Amone is one to keep an eye on too. Fellow Steelers graduate Zac Lomax is already a star, and signed until the end of 2025.

Speaking on Wednesday, Feagai said the desire to carry junior success with his mates into NRL level was part of the reason he and brother Mat re-committed to the club.

"I couldn't believe it last year, I'll look back on it as one of the highlights of my career for sure," Feagai said.

"I came up playing with Sully, we played with Cody last year in 20s as well so to have the three of us out there this weekend will be really good. I saw this week [numbers] one to seven are all guys who came up through the club's junior reps and that shows how the club values its local juniors."

There could well be something brewing, something Panthers-like even. As Linde says: "the talent's there, it's just about how hard they work."

It might even give that small but vocal "cut Illawarra loose" brigade up Koagrah-Hurstville way food for thought (though it's not their forte).

The question that's followed the Dragons in recent years is: what does the club stand for? Well, perhaps what these young premiership-winners are bringing through is a decent place to start.