"The first training session they put him on the wing and he jumped high above Josh Mansour to catch a bomb and scored a try," Gould recalls. "I can still remember all the players cheering. He was popular from day one but I think rugby's his game and that was probably where he was going to end up."

While rugby league was Nabuli's lifeline, rugby is fast becoming his future after he was named to make his Wallabies debut against Scotland in Sydney on Saturday.

The Nabuli story is a gem. Spotted by league legends Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler in late 2012 while working as a hotel porter in Fiji, Nabuli was then recommended to Gould who immediately signed the then 24-year-old to Penrith.

"They recorded a video of their first meeting with him and asked him if he'd ever played rugby or rugby league," Gould said. "Down the park they were getting him to run and kick and then Freddy rang me on the phone. He said: 'we've got a bloke in Fiji who would love a club to give him an opportunity. You just have to trust me. I'll send you a video. Would you give him a shot?'

"I said 100 per cent and signed him without ever having seen him, just on Brad's recommendation. He looked like an Adonis. He was just a physical specimen."

If you thought Nabuli's grin was big the day he signed a contract with Penrith, double that when Michael Cheika told him on Thursday his superb form with the Queensland Reds would be rewarded with a Test debut on the wing.

"I was happy when they told me that," Nabuli said. "He [Cheika] never told me [beforehand]. I was just doing our training and giving it all the best ... he never said anything to me until the time he announced it. It was a surprise."

Nabuli is forever grateful to Gould, as well as Fittler and Johns, for giving him the chance of a lifetime to leave his village of Malomalo in Fiji to pursue a career in professional football.

"Phil Gould said: 'yes, let's give him an opportunity'," Nabuli said. "I just came out for three months. I was lucky after three months. I grabbed that opportunity and did my best and the journey started from there and has kept on going.

"It was hard to leave the family the first time because I left my mum back at home. I see this as my future.

"I'm excited. I'm just going to play hard and do my best in the game to make the team win. I'll do my best."

Reaching the pinnacle of any sport is a serious feat in itself but for Gould, who is proud that he played a role in the birth of Nabuli's career, he is hardly surprised by his ascension in the 15-man code.

"As soon as he arrived you could see that Brad and Joey were right," Gould said. "He's a tremendous athlete.

"He was as excited as anyone you could ever imagine. He had a huge smile on his face and was very popular with all the players. His time at Penrith and St George really helped him with learning the demands of professional football."

Known for his raw speed and reliability under the high ball, do not be surprised if Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley opts to kick to the air more often come Saturday afternoon.

The thought of 197-centimetre Nabuli and fullback Israel Folau - arguably the world's best player under the high ball - leaping on the edges of Allianz Stadium will be enough to worry the touring Scots.

Nabuli says his brother, three sisters and extended family will be watching the Scotland game from Fiji on television, proudly cheering on their man who has come from humble beginnings.

And even though Fiji is where he hails from, according to Wallabies prop Scott Sio, Nabuli is very much Australian now.

"We're trying to teach him a couple of Australian folk songs ... trying to get him to know True Blue to sing after a win," Sio said. "Hopefully, he'll be able to sing that after a good win against Scotland."