Jamie Simpson always finishes the daily conversation the same way. ??He never hangs up the phone without saying, ?I love you,??? his mother, Sheryl Simpson, said.

??It doesn?t matter where he is, whether he?s out with the boys, he?ll always say it. He?s a real mummy?s boy.??

South Sydney utility Jamie Simpson is many things. A cancer survivor. A three-try hero. A Ken Stephen medal nominee. The owner of a shiny new two-year contract to remain at Redfern. But above all else he?s an unabashed mummy?s boy.

It?s little surprise when you hear his story. His mother was there for him when his father left, shortly after Jamie was born. She was there when he discovered a cancerous lump the size of a fist in his groin. And when the dreaded ?c? word, seemingly defeated, returned.

It?s little wonder that, when a school teacher once asked him who his idol was, the answer was staring at him from across the breakfast table.

??My mum was my mother and father,?? Simpson said yesterday. ??Money-wise, we never had much when I was younger. It was always a struggle for her to buy me footy boots.??

Or anything else for that matter. But Sheryl often worked two jobs, one as a cleaner, to make sure her boy never went without.

??I kept her on her feet,?? Simpson said. ??She made sacrifices in life all the time. She had me when she was young [18] so she gave up her own life and had a life with me. We had a life together, I suppose.??

That life was shared with his grandparents, who moved in as well. There was no father figure, however, from the time his grandfather died when Simpson was four. Just aunties and, later, a sister, Jessica. It left Simpson with what he described as a ??support network of girls??.

??I?m more in touch with my feminine side,?? Simpson quipped. ??Let?s just say, I?m not a loose cannon on the drink.??

Socialising with mates was the last thing on his mind when he was first diagnosed with cancer in his teens.

Terry Hansen, Simpson?s rugby league coach at St Brendan?s College, Yeppoon, suspected something was amiss when a relative of Simpson?s called before a big game. The instruction was simple: ??Let Jamie do whatever he wants.??

What Hansen didn?t know was that his gun playmaker had Hodgkin?s lymphoma. Football was on hold. Survival become the priority.

Chemotherapy reduced Simpson to a shell of his former self. He threw up constantly and lost 20 kilograms before finally being given the all clear. But it was a false dawn. The cancer returned and a stem-cell transplant was described as a ??last-ditch effort??.

??I spent my 17th birthday in hospital, and couldn?t even eat the cake that mum bought me,?? Simpson said.

Meanwhile, Sheryl was beside herself. ??I kept thinking ?What would I do if he died???? she said. ??It was so, so horrible. You pray every night as hard as you possibly can for him to be cured.??

During that time, former Bronco Scott Minto gave Simpson the only book he has ever read, Wayne Bennett?s autobiography Don?t Die With the Music in You . Bennett had written on the inside cover: ??Tough times come and go, but tough guys last forever.??

Minto had a message of his own: ??Soon you?ll be doing the same thing that I?m doing??.

Minto was right. Not only is Simpson playing again, he is starring. In the past seven games, he has scored eight tries. Yesterday he re-signed with the Rabbitohs despite interest from the likes of the Bulldogs and the Storm.

And the former state hockey player recently marked five years in remission. This time the cancer is officially gone.

But there have been other obstacles along the way to NRL stardom. Simpson?s boots bear the name of his close mate ??Joe Clarke??, inked in memory of the former Bronco who committed suicide two years ago.

And when Simpson crossed for the first of his three tries against the Roosters on Monday, he celebrated by writing the initials ??TP?? in the air. It was a tribute to former junior Bronco Todd Parnell, who died in a bar fight last weekend. Simpson will head to Queensland for the funeral today.

??It?s amazing that you have such a bad time for a couple of years and to see where he is now,?? Sheryl said. ??He may have said I was his hero ? but I idolise him.??