As classmates in primary school Cronulla duo Gerard Beale and Ricky Leutele could only dream about playing alongside each other in an NRL final.

Fast-forward 20 years and the close friends have achieved the goal they spoke about inside the classrooms of Creastmead State School, in the Queensland city of Logan. The kindergarten friends spent their entire primary schooling together and would go on to have their first taste of football playing alongside each other at Souths Logan for almost a decade, where they tasted multiple premiership successes in the juniors.

Leutele said Beale was always a standout. "He was always our star player growing up," Leutele said. "He was really crafty with the ball. We used to live a short driving distance from each other and we'd always hang out. When we won our first grand final, Gerard had an all-nighter at his place where we played the new rugby league game [on PlayStation]. He was the same as he is now really tame and relaxed.

"It's crazy being alongside him, playing in the NRL."

While the pair eventually reunited this season for the first time in 10 years at Cronulla, they have taken a totally different path as they forged their first-grade careers. Beale was a childhood prodigy, seemingly destined for the NRL, standing out in a club side which aside from Beale and Leutele featured future Wallabies centre Matt Toomua and Newcastle prop Sam Mataora.

"I was enjoying my footy at the time and watching him kick on in the NRL," Leutele said. "It  was pretty trippy playing footy with him and then just watching him on TV."

Beale played his first NRL game at 18, and spent four seasons with Brisbane before linking with St George Illawarra. Leutele only played 13 NRL games in four years having made his debut a year after Beale, before cementing his spot last season. He was signed by the Sharks after impressing at an open trial.

Beale recalls the first time he opposed Leutele who – in his own words – was "a real chubby kid".

"He was a forward coming up when we were kids," Beale said. "Until I played him in the 20s and he was in the centres and he was all trimmed up I was like 'who was this guy?'. I know him inside and out."

They will return to Queensland as Cronulla's centre pairing in their do-or-die battle against the Cowboys on Saturday. Their reunion could have been put on hold though, as Beale considered offers from Gold Coast and the Warriors after being told late in the year that he could switch from the Dragons despite being contracted.

Leutele was quickly on the phone to Beale when he was linked with a move to Cronulla.

"I saw it in the paper what was happening at the Dragons, I sent him a text to see how he was," Leutele said. "It was during the Four-Nations campaign that I saw he might be coming to the Sharks but he didn't give too much away. When I heard he signed with us we spoke about how excited we were to play in the NRL together."

Aside from his longstanding friendship with Leutele, the transition to Cronulla was easy for Beale, who already called the Sutherland Shire home. Former St George Illawarra teammates Matt Prior and Kyle Stanley were at the Sharks as was ex-Dragons coach Steve Price.

"The Sharks showed the most belief and I was happy with that," Beale said. "I wanted to be part of the team and the roster they had. Last year looking [at all the club's dramas] as an outsider, I didn't know much about it. I felt sorry for the playing group. I didn't know what to expect."