When Jack de Belin found out he had been chosen to make his State of Origin debut, he was just as happy for St George Illawarra teammate Paul Vaughan.
It is easy to see why new NSW coach Brad Fittler is such a big fan of de Belin and wanted him as part of his first squad. De Belin’s attitude sums up the ‘team first’ mentality Fittler has tried to instill in his first NSW team.
De Belin is one of four Dragons players who have been rewarded for their own outstanding personal form and St George Illawarra’s excellent start to the season. Blues De Belin, Vaughan and Tyson Frizell will be out to stop Ben Hunt and Queensland from winning a 12th series out of the last 13.
Like many before him, his phone call giving him the good news arrived when he was relaxing at home. In de Belin’s case, playing Fortnite on his gaming console. He then shared the good news immediately with his family.
It hasn’t been an easy road to representative football for de Belin. He was the Blues’ 18th man for all three games last season but wasn’t called upon to make his debut.
When he runs out wearing the sky blue jersey at the MCG on Wednesday night he will have come a long way from the first Origin game he ever went to – as part of the St Gregory’s College Campbelltown choir at ANZ Stadium during the 2008 series.
The 27-year-old has been consistently excellent for the Dragons for the last two years. De Belin, who will be one of 11 debutants for NSW, admitted if he hadn’t been selected this year he would have given up on his dream.
“I kind of had the assumption that it’s my year. If I didn’t make it this year I was probably never going to make it,” he said.
“I’ve been on the verge for a couple of years. Obviously my name has been tossed up for a while now. Last year, actually being in the camp as 18th man, they didn’t change the side. They were one to 17 every game.
If I didn’t make it this year I was probably never going to make it.
- Jack de Belin
“So I didn’t get to play which was unfortunate. But I got a lot of experience out of it. It made me a lot hungrier to finally get my crack.
“I’ve always kind of said that and believed that [my game is suited to Origin]. It was just a matter of letting the selectors see that and this year I stepped it up a bit in a couple of aspects of my game that are suited to Origin like team-first actions and being a defensive-minded player helps being such a physical game that Origin is.”
Valentine Holmes will be Cronulla’s sole Origin representative in Melbourne, keeping his place on the wing for Queensland after his heroics in game three last year.
