Wayne Bennett doubts rugby league will ever see another Cyril Connell.

And Brisbane, Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer believes he is a better person for having learned life's lessons from a man who cared so deeply about others.

Bennett was destined to be a great coach just as Lockyer was born to be a great player.

But the impact Connell, Brisbane's long-serving player scout who died in June 2009, had on both men, and those who never reached such heights, is why he was so loved in rugby league.

Lockyer will lead his players against Bennett's Dragons at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday wearing navy blue jumpers struck in honour of Connell and his 20 years' service to the club.

Lockyer first met Connell when he was playing for combined South West at a Queensland schoolboys carnival at Caboolture.

He was 15.

"I'd never met him before but all the kids knew he was the Broncos scout, he was always being talked about," Lockyer told AAP.

"He came up to me, shook my hand and just starting chatting about life and footy which was a buzz because he was someone all the kids knew."

Apart from his lovely nature, Lockyer said Connell made people feel important every time he spoke to them.

"He was interested in what you were doing outside of footy and asked about your family," said Lockyer.

"From the moment you met him you knew he cared about you and I'm sure he did that to every kid he met.

"He always had time for you and wanted you to be successful."

Connell never expected recognition and was a very humble man, said Lockyer, who could just as well have been describing himself.

"You pick up things from people you respect and look up to," said Lockyer.

"Cyril had some really great qualities but one that stood out for me was he wanted everyone around him to be successful. He got pleasure out of that.

"He wasn't after self recognition and I really like that trait.

"He's left a legacy at the club of what his values were and as long as I'm there I'll be keen to see that Cyril Connell ethos remains in place."

Bennett, who loves telling stories about Connell's bad driving and his love of meat pies, had a fondness for him which allowed him to get away things others would not.

Bennett may not have enjoyed quite as much success (six premierships) had it not been for Connell's uncanny ability to spot a good young footballer in the bush, the same way Bart Cummings could spot a Melbourne Cup hope in a paddock.

The Brisbane coach often marvelled at the lengths Connell would go to convince him to stick with some young kid he'd bring to the club.

"I think Wayne thought I was a little too lairy and a bit lazy on the field and Cyril had to talk him into signing me," said former winger Wendell Sailor.

Sailor said Bennett had only recently told him he may not have signed him had it not been for Connell's constant words of praise.

Bennett admired Connell greatly for his humility, patience and his remarkable kindness.

Connell didn't like flying, so he drove all over Queensland searching for special young players like Lockyer and Sailor.

Often viewed as a tough taskmaster, Bennett had a real soft spot for Connell.

He told mourners at his funeral how the Rockhampton-born ex-school teacher - who played for Queensland and Australia in the 1950s - would often bring "charity" cases to the club because "he was a nice boy" or he had "lovely parents".

When Broncos founder, the late Paul Morgan, first approached him about giving Connell, who wasn't enjoying working as a stockbroker in his firm, a job as a recruiting scout, Bennett's response was: "does he know his players?"

"Porky (Morgan) was rather offended by that and I soon discovered why," smiled Bennett.

On Sunday, a number of Connell's last crop of young stars, including Andrew McCullough and Ben Hunt, will revive memories of a man who regarded all the players he brought to the club as members of his family.

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