Australian coach Mal Meninga says Jarrod Croker is a great player, but has challenged the Canberra Raiders captain to become the best-of-the-best to end his representative drought.
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Croker's one of the most consistent centres in the NRL and every week he quietly goes about scoring points and tries.
At just 26, he's already the Green Machine's leading point scorer of all time and only Jason Croker has scored more tries than he has.
But apart from a couple of appearances for NSW Country and playing in the NRL All Stars match, Croker has yet to taste representative football.
He's constantly in the mix for the beleaguered NSW Blues and was named in the Kangaroos train-on squad last year only for injury to scupper any chance of playing in the Four Nations.
Meninga will pick a Kangaroos squad for the World Cup following the NRL grand final, but will probably name on Tuesday a Prime Minister's XIII to take on Papua New Guinea in a fortnight.
He said Croker was one of several Raiders in the mix for the PM's game, along with NRL rookie of the year favourite Nick Cotric.
Josh Papalii, Shannon Boyd and Junior Paulo were also in contention to face the Kumuls.
"Jarrod's always in the wings. He'll be obviously one of the ones we'll look at for the Prime Minister's XIII and then we'll look at who's available at the back end of the year as well," Meninga said.
"But's he a great player and he'll always be in contention.
"You'll get a better idea next week, there'll be a few Raiders in it don't you worry, but who we pick will come down to who drops out [of the NRL finals race] and who we think may drop out round two as well."
Meninga challenged Croker to become the best left centre in the competition.
Croker was third in the NRL for points scored in the regular season and bagged nine tries as well.
But where does he sit in the Australian centres pecking order?
The Kangaroos' incumbents are Melbourne's Will Chambers, who played on the left but plays on the right for the Storm, and Josh Dugan, whose selection could be under a cloud after another controversial season.
Gold Coast's Jarryd Hayne played left centre for the NSW Blues during State of Origin, but he's struggled to recapture his best form.
Michael Jennings (Parramatta) and youngster Latrell Mitchell (Sydney Roosters) are left centre options, while Newcastle's Dane Gagai was in the mix to play left centre for Queensland in this year's Origin.
Of those, only Hayne and Gagai would be in contention for the PM's game as the rest are still playing finals.
Chambers is arguably the best centre in the game, but Croker has his measure statistically when you look at tries, line breaks, try assists, missed tackles, tackle busts and errors, with metres run and offloads the only areas the Storm centre betters him.
It's a similar story with other left centres, with Mitchell the only one whose numbers outweigh the Raiders skipper.
"He's only young, he's a leader, but there's some deficiencies in his game that he needs to improve in as well," Meninga said of Croker.
"That's what playing for the Kangaroos is - that you're the best of the best in your position.
"He's a great ambassador for the game, great ambassador for the Raiders so he ticks that box. He plays consistent footy, but it's the best of the best. Is he the best left centre in the competition?"
The Raiders' Mal Meninga Medal will be decided on Monday night, with one of last year's co-winners, Josh Papalii one of the favourites to win it.
Cotric's stunning 16-try debut season makes him a certainty for rookie of the year, but he's also a chance for the main gong as well.
Junior Paulo's also in the mix for the Meninga Medal, although New Zealand winger Jordan Rapana's shaping as the favourite.
MAL MENINGA MEDAL
Monday: Canberra Raiders best and fairest at the AIS Arena, 6pm.
