Tyson Frizell is playing every State of Origin match like it is his last, because if his career in Blue has taught him anything it's that representative honours can be torn away at any moment.
The 31-year-old Newcastle player was a walk-up starter when Brad Fittler took the reins at NSW in 2018, lining up in the second row for every game of the coach's first three series.
But everything changed when Frizell suffered an ankle injury the day before Fittler announced his team for the first game of 2021.
Sidelined for all three games in that series, once Frizell returned the following year, Liam Martin, Cam Murray and Angus Crichton had all firmed as essential selections in the Blues' back row.
Frizell was relegated to 19th man for the first game of the 2022 series, and left in the cold entirely for the final two matches as Fittler rang the changes.
It was enough to make the Newcastle man stop and think after 14 Origin appearances.
"Last year, after being in camp for game one, thoughts did go through my mind, that maybe my time was up," Frizell told AAP.
"I wasn't too sure if it was going to come around (this year) or if I would be tossed up in the conversation.
"But I never lost hope that I could get an opportunity again."
That chance came when Frizell was a surprise inclusion for this year's series opener at Adelaide Oval.
With a young forward pack around him, the experienced Frizell let nobody down and was controversially denied a try in the 22nd minute that would have helped the Blues recover from a 10-0 start.
Having spent two years in the Origin wilderness, he will run out at Suncorp Stadium on June 21 with more appreciation than ever for the Blue jersey.
"You never know when it's going to be your last," he said.
"Every time you step on the field, you want to play like it's your last-ever game. I'll be doing everything I can to hold my spot but also to get us a victory."
Only Frizell and captain James Tedesco played in the Blues' 2017 victory at Suncorp Stadium, one of only two wins they have recorded in their last 10 trips to Brisbane.
At the tail end of the Queensland dynasty, the Blues completely dominated a Maroons side that included Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, running out 28-4 winners.
It remains one of NSW's sweetest wins in recent memory and Frizell believes this year's Origin II arrives in similar circumstances.
"It was probably the same kind of thing, we weren't really given a chance of going up there and beating a great Queensland side," he said.
"It's the same kind of mindset, just going up there and laying it all out.
"No one's giving us an opportunity, but why can't we go up there and jag a victory?
"It's do-or-die and we need to level the series."
