Country Origin coach Trent Barrett has guaranteed Canberra Raiders Jack Wighton and Paul Vaughan will retain their spots, but the fate of Jarrod Croker and Shaun Fensom could rest in the hands of the Australia selector.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite being Canberra's most consistent players for some time, Croker and Fensom are yet to play for Country, but feature in a 24-man squad selectors will choose from.
Whether Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens picks Josh Dugan and Trent Merrin to play in Friday's Test against New Zealand could have a major bearing on whether the Raiders pair win their maiden jumpers.
Raiders fullback Wighton is viewed as a potential future State of Origin centre by Blues coach Laurie Daley and will play there should Dugan make his international debut.
The Australian side will be announced at half-time of Sunday's Canberra-South Sydney clash in Cairns, with the Country and City teams for next Sunday's game in Wagga named after the match.
"Wighton and Vaughan will definitely be in the team, and the other couple [Croker and Fensom] are big chances if they play well," Barrett said on Saturday.
"With Dugan and Merrin I'm sure those two [Raiders boys] understand I have to do what Laurie needs to do there as well.
"We'll know the Aussie side before we pick ours. We've got a squad of about 24 at the moment and all those [Raiders] guys are in it.
"If Dugan was available Jack would play centre. I know Laurie down the track in Origin probably sees him there.
"There'll be a few blokes from Canberra, provided they all get through the game and play well enough."
Fensom is desperate to make his representative debut and admitted before this season he was "angry" he was made 18th man last year, despite a host of injury withdrawals.
The omission of players with minor niggles has regularly brought the concept into question, but Barrett insisted "we'll only pick players who want to play".
That could work in Fensom's favour, and Barrett was impressed by his professionalism last year when he knew he would not be playing.
"I had Fenno as 18th man last year and he was really good. It depends what happens around Merrin and a couple of other guys," Barrett said.
"He had an exceptional attitude and prepared himself like he was playing. I walked away with a really high opinion of him after that."
Asked if Croker was a legitimate hope, Barrett said: "I've watched a lot of his games this year and he's leading that [Raiders] side well. He's in with a heck of a chance."
The Raiders are looking to square their season at 4-4 against Souths before next week's break, but Croker admitted potential representative selection would be motivating some of his players.
The centre represented the Prime Minister's XIII in Papua New Guinea late last year and was Canberra's representative in the NRL All Stars team in February.
"I'm sure it is for a few blokes but I'm just worried about Sunday. I just want that win," Croker said.
"There'll be a few of the other boys who are excited at the prospect of maybe playing rep football but I'm not concerned about it at the moment."
It appears Raiders prop Shannon Boyd has left his bid for Country selection too late, despite a huge display when returning from a shoulder injury in last week's win over Wests Tigers.
"He's playing well enough and is certainly big enough, [but] there's a few blokes ahead of him at the moment in the front row," Barrett said.
"Boydy is young and there's plenty of time for him, but it's probably unlikely this time around. He's certainly someone we've been watching."
RAIDERS REPRESENTATIVE HOPES
Australia: Josh Papalii (no)
City: Blake Austin (possible)
Country: Paul Vaughan (definite), Jack Wighton (definite), Jarrod Croker (possible), Shaun Fensom (possible), Shannon Boyd (unlikely)
