Nicho Hynes doubts he'll be picked for State of Origin III but after his NSW debut triggered a downward spiral resulting in him withdrawing from friends, family and footy, the Cronulla halfback is content to miss out.
Hynes had been one of the form players of the NRL for the 18 months prior to his Origin debut in the series opener on May 31.
But what was supposed to be a memorable milestone ended as a night to forget at Adelaide Oval.
Hynes was only injected into the game in the final 12 minutes and was caught out playing in the unfamiliar position of centre as the Maroons ran in a long-range try.
That four-pointer led to another and in the space of three minutes Queensland snatched victory.
"I let the state down and the team down that day," Hynes said of his defensive misread.
But the loss was only the beginning of Hynes' first slump as a NRL player.
Cronulla lost their first game after Origin and in the week after were on the receiving end of the biggest defeat of Craig Fitzgibbon's coaching tenure - a 54-10 defeat to Melbourne.
Hynes went missing in the game and lost his spot in the Blues side for Origin II a day later.
"I knew that was coming," he said.
"Coming into the NRL, I've had such a smooth-sailing ride on the field. Off the field I've had my challenges but on the field I've just been on such a high for so long.
"It's no secret what happened over those few weeks, the Origin and then the Melbourne game.
"Internally, I probably let it get to me a little bit by putting on a brave face around my family and my friends.
"They probably paid the price for that by me being a bit of a punish to be around.
"I probably went away from watching footy or coming in and doing extra video. There's no way I should be getting away from that because this is what I love."
In the two weeks since his Origin axing, Hynes has been instrumental in big wins for the Sharks.
It was a team effort that sealed 48-10 and 52-16 routs of Canterbury and St George Illawarra, but when the game was there to be won Hynes was responsible for putting Cronulla on the front foot.
Now that he's back enjoying footy with the Sharks, who could finish the weekend as high as second on the ladder, Hynes is unfazed if his name is once again omitted from Brad Fittler's team sheet for Game III.
"I don't think I will get the call up," he said.
"I'll just prove to everyone that, if I don't get a shot this time in Game III, then I'll be the right person next year.
"I'd honestly love to wear No.6 or No.7 in the Origin series and show what I can really do in the Origin arena.
"But my main focus is putting this team (Cronulla) into a position to try and win a competition.
"I just want to be the best version of myself, rocking up to training with a smile on my face, going home seeing my mum and my little puppy, my mates, and just being happy.
"At the end of my career hopefully I can look back at this time and go, 'You know what, that was the best thing for me and I've played 10 Origin games after that.'"
