Two days ago, it was Mitch Moses v Adam Reynolds in the race for the Blues’ No.7 jersey for State of Origin III.
Or so they said.
The Parramatta Eels’ halfback spent the weekend hoping he’d done enough to make his Origin debut.
He’d missed a winning penalty goal, in an otherwise impressive outing, against the Penrith Panthers on Friday night.
Thankfully, Moses was spared the agonising wait watching Reynolds line up for South Sydney on Sunday afternoon in his own ‘audition’ for the spot.
At lunchtime, Blues Coach Brad Fittler put him out of his misery and picked up the phone.
“I was really hoping he didn’t leave it all day,” Moses said.
“Freddy called. I saw his name pop up on my phone and I was shaking … (I was) pretty rattled.
"He asked if I was ready to go and I said 100 percent, so it was a pretty good call to receive.
“I’m pretty excited and can’t wait to play,” he said.
Moses had already spent the week prior being touted as the favourite to replace the injured Nathan Cleary.
“I tried to block it out as much as possible and just worry about my job for Parramatta.
“We didn’t get the job done (against the Panthers), but we need to learn from it,” Moses said.
Moses said that also includes his missed penalty goal, which would have won the Eels the game.
“I’ve learned to handle those situations a lot better than what I have in the past.
“Maybe two, three years ago, even last year, I wouldn’t have spoken to anyone for probably five days I reckon, so I think I’ve just learnt to learn from those situations and move on.
“If you start to dwell on those situations it will affect you.
"As much as I would have loved for that kick to go over, it didn’t happen,” Moses said.
This afternoon Moses arrived in Kingscliff in Northern NSW for Blues camp, as he sets his sights on leading the team to a third straight victory.
“Obviously you want to go out there and make it a clean sweep.
“There have only been a few teams to do that, so that will be the goal; my first game, to win the game,” Moses said.
A childhood dream come true.
“You always dream about it as a young kid, my family know I’ve always dreamed of that and it’s finally going to happen for me. I’m pretty rapt
“It’s all well and good being there, but now you have to get the job done and that’s the focus," Moses said.
