Canberra Raiders second-rower Josh Papalii set himself to reclaim his Kangaroos jersey, but he was still shocked to find out he had made Mal Meninga's starting XIII – probably because he broke his phone and couldn't be contacted.
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Papalii felt there were better second-rowers in the NRL, but said he would take the confidence from his selection into the Raiders' clash against the Penrith Panthers at Bathurst on Saturday.
The exciting forward was widely tipped to be picked on the Australian bench to take on New Zealand at Newcastle on May 6, but this season's form was strong enough to force his way into the starting line-up.
It will be his first appearance for the Kangaroos since the Four Nations final against the Kiwis in Wellington in 2014.
"To be honest, I feel shocked. I think there were better second-rowers out there from the start of this year until now," Papalii said.
"Obviously I'm pretty shocked, but I've got this week to try and get past and hopefully play well this weekend. I've got to give a thumbs-up to Mal for having faith. I've got to try and back it up this weekend – we're a long way from that game [against the Kiwis]."
It seems the 23-year-old's ball-handling is better than his phone-handling skills, which rendered him unreachable and meant Meninga couldn't let him know of his selection.
"I tried to chuck it on the carpet at home and it actually hit the corner of the table," Papalii laughed.
He has played seven Tests for Australia, but none for nearly 1½ years, and made four Origin appearances for Queensland.
Papalii set his sights on getting back on the national radar through his form for the Raiders.
He felt he started the season well but was not happy with his efforts in recent weeks, until Saturday's demolition of Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium.
He has proved how dangerous he can be around opposition try lines, especially early in the NRL season, through his power and footwork.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a goal, it was definitely a goal," he said. "I just had to try and get a good start to my season. Obviously I haven't done that for the last couple of years.
"I was pretty happy with my form early on. I'm just pretty shocked at the moment. I would call my parents, but I've got no phone."
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart wants as many Origin and international players in his squad as he can get, because it means he is building a quality team.
He has two England Test players in Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead, and now Papalii has a chance to establish himself as that level too.
But Papalii does not want to lose focus on this weekend's game against a Panthers side that is proving hard to beat.
"It's always good to hear good news, and like [Stuart] said before the season, the more rep players we get into teams [it] definitely helps our season," he said.
"Look, I'm pretty happy, but obviously I've got a job to do in Bathurst against the Panthers and hopefully we can get the two points there."
Raiders' back-up hooker Kurt Baptiste said Papalii "deserves" his Australian selection.
"He's been playing consistent footy all year, he's been one of our most consistent. He just shows how damaging he is every week, how good he can run," Baptiste said.
"He's one of the leaders there, especially with Jeff [Lima] and Sia [Soliola] out. He's taken it on himself to be one of the leaders there."
Kangaroos squad: 1. Darius Boyd, 2. Semi Radradra, 3. Greg Inglis, 4. Josh Dugan, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Johnathan Thurston, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Matt Scott, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Paul Gallen, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Matt Gillett, 13. Corey Parker. Interchange: 14. Josh McGuire, 15. Michael Morgan, 16. James Tamou, 17. Sam Thaiday, 18. Aidan Guerra, 19. Michael Jennings.
NRL ROUND 9
Saturday: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Bathurst, 3pm. Live on Fox Sports 1.
