Hudson Young has been a fringe Blues player for the last few years, dropping in and out of the squad despite his impressive form for the Canberra Raiders.
Having now re-entered the NSW camp, Young has declared his intentions to remain a Blue for the long term, with his club coach backing his admission.
"What I want to do is cement myself in this team and be the best teammate and player I can be for this state. I don't really mind what's happened in previous years," Young told Wide World of Sports on the first day of the NSW Blues camp.
"You're always fighting for a spot, and you've always got to fight for that jersey. It was obviously one of my goals that I set for myself this year."
"Coming in for Game 1, I want to really enjoy it and be present in every moment."
Former Blues coach and current Canberra Raiders coach, Ricky Stuart, discussed Young's previous snubs from the Origin arena on the eve of the Blues' teamlist announcement, which saw his star backrower named on the bench.
"Hudson hasn't been shown any faith in him over the years as an Origin player," the long-serving Raiders coach told the media after Round 11.
"I get it, every coach has their own opinions and I'm not being biased, I'm just telling you what I'm seeing at the moment. Hudson should be starting on the Origin team.
"He's the form back-rower in the competition," Stuart declared.
The 26-year-old admitted he understands why he has missed out on selection in the past, and was ecstatic to learn he would be donning the sky blue jumper once again.
"It was surreal," Young conceded.
"There's such great depth within the squad, and that's what makes NSW so great."
The Blues' second-row stocks are abundant, so when Young got the call-up from NSW coach Laurie Daley, he knew what an honour it was.
"It fills me with great confidence, and it just comes back to playing good football at clubland," he said.
With Angus Crichton and Liam Martin lock-ins for the starting backrow, Young may be required to shuffle around the park a little, a task the Raiders star vowed he is more than up to.
"Obviously, there's a difference in positioning and stuff like that, but us back-rowers are pretty much playing in the middle in the rough of it every week," he said.
"I did that job for Australia at the end of last year, and I'm happy to do that here."
Young will have the opportunity to cement his Blues spot next Wednesday, when he takes on the Maroons at Suncorp Stadium.
