He's fought his way back into Canberra's starting pack and says he's finally regained match fitness, but Raiders prop David Shillington admits his toughest task will be winning back his Maroons representative jersey.
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Having missed the bulk of Canberra's pre-season trials and the first two premiership matches with a rib cartilage injury, Shillington was one of Canberra's best in its disappointing loss to the Newcastle Knights last weekend, gaining 150 metres in hit-ups.
Heralded by Maroons great Petero Civoniceva last year as his long-term successor in the Queensland front row, Shillington was dropped after starting at prop in Origin's game one loss to NSW. The Maroons shifted Nate Myles to prop and brought in younger Raiders teammates Josh Papalii, who went on to represent Australia.
A veteran of 14 Tests for Australia and eight Origin matches for Queensland, Shillington hopes his representative career isn't finished but admitted he faced stiff competition after Queensland won an eighth consecutive series.
"I'd love to be back in the Queensland side, [but] it'll be a really tough task for me,'' he said. "They won last year and Queensland's renowned for sticking with the same team and rewarding that sort of success. I'll just have to keep playing well for the Raiders."
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has voiced his concern over slow ruck interpretations by on-field officials, after the Raiders focused their pre-season preparation on playing an up-tempo style.
But Shillington, who came back from injury via the bench, said the Raiders needed to address their own execution.
"I feel like we're a really fit pack,'' he said. "People talk about the size of us, but every week Ricky's instructing us to play fast and upbeat because we'll back our fitness and work ethic. If anything, our execution needs to be better and our concentration in defence.
"I was a bit behind the eight-ball coming back [from injury], but I feel like I'm up to speed now. I want to be a starting prop, that's where you test yourself, at the start of the game, to get the opportunity to get your team going forward early on and get some momentum.
"They don't come much tougher than Melbourne [at Canberra Stadium on Sunday]. We'll have to work really hard in the middle, they're excellent wrestlers, so our role in the middle will be really important."
