The first time NSW coach Laurie Daley called Jack Bostock to invite him into Blues camp, he ignored the unknown phone number.
Fast-forward a few weeks, and the towering Dolphins winger is heeding the call for a debut in the State of Origin decider.
Bostock sat on the bench for the Blues' 44-24 loss in Origin II, having been parachuted into camp when Casey McLean suffered a leg injury at training.
The rangy 22-year-old had been out to lunch with mates on the Saturday that the Blues were scrambling to replace Penrith young gun McLean.
At first, Bostock was too busy chowing down to pick up his state's distress call.
"I got the phone call and obviously didn't have any of their numbers saved. I missed a couple of the calls," Bostock told AAP.
"The voice message popped up and it annotated it into words and it said 'Laurie Daley', and I was like, far out, I know what this is going to be."
After riding the pine at the MCG, Bostock's debut comes in similarly dramatic circumstances, given he replaces stalwart Brian To'o on the left wing at Suncorp Stadium.
The call-up continues a sharp rise to the top for the 2024 Dally M rookie of the year, who becomes the first Dolphins player to represent NSW.
"That's pretty cool, to be the first one for the club," Bostock said.
The slice of history may never have come to pass had Bostock not been scouted by recruitment guru Peter O'Sullivan while playing for Illawarra's under-19s team.
Bostock came through St George Illawarra's system with the Couchman twins, Dylan Egan and Hamish Stewart, but a meeting with then-coach Wayne Bennett convinced him to join the Dolphins' foundation roster for 2023.
"Nothing really happened to push me out (of the Dragons), I suppose it was how it went at the time," he said.
"The Dolphins came about and I was pretty keen on doing it.
"I've still got a lot of mates that play at the Dragons, no hate for the club or anything, just how it all worked out, really."
Bostock has already conquered adversity during his short career to date, going down with an anterior cruciate ligament injury last June.
Recovering from a knee injury of his own, Dolphins teammate Max Plath became Bostock's closest rehab buddy, and will be an Origin rival come Wednesday night.
"We are good mates but we won't be this week," Bostock said.
"If he's got a Dolphins jersey I like him, but with a Maroons jersey on, I don't have too much to say."
He has started exclusively in the centres since returning from his knee injury in May, but Bostock insists he will be up to the task of reverting to wing on the sport's biggest stage.
Bostock has put his hand up to take the yardage carries that were To'o's calling card.
"For sure, that's a winger's job. I've played plenty of wing in my career," he said.
"I'm so happy to be here, I always dreamt of this as a kid. Now that it's finally happened, it's a dream come true. I'm so excited."
