He couldn't say no to Brad Fittler and he wouldn't say no to Laurie Daley either.
Paul Gallen will end his short-lived representative retirement to captain NSW City against Country, however, he also left the door open for a possible Blues comeback.
"That's up to Laurie if I'm required. All I can do is go out and play good for my club," Gallen said on Thursday.
"I'm happy with my club form at the moment so I'm not too sure."
Asked if he would say no to Daley, Gallen said: "You'd never say no to Laurie Daley, same as I didn't say no to Brad Fittler when he rang me and asked me.
"But I'm not going to go there yet."
Daley praised Gallen's performances since announcing his intention to retire from rep football, but was also cagey on the chances of him seeking out his former skipper for one last hurrah.
Daley pointed to Gallen's 11 Dally M points so far this year - second behind Cameron Smith.
"I think Gal's a wonderful player and he's playing really well at the moment. Who knows what's around the corner," Daley said.
"He's played some really good footy. He's an inspirational player and his numbers are as good as they've ever been.
"He's third or fourth on the Dally M board so he hasn't lost anything.
"Look, he made himself unavailable. I haven't spoken to him since, but things can change pretty quickly in rugby league, as we know.
"At this stage, Gal's looking forward to playing for City and we'll see what happens after that."
At 35 years of age, Gallen is the oldest active player in the NRL but believes he is still playing at Origin level for the Sharks.
After eight rounds, he is No.1 in hit-ups (144) and third in metres gained (1480).
Gallen has revealed Fittler had asked him in early March about the possibility of making just his second appearance in the City-Country fixture, but only followed him up on Tuesday.
"I never heard from him last week, and I didn't hear from him till two days ago," he said.
"I thought that he'd forgotten about it, but obviously he give me a call and when Brad Fittler asks you to do something, I'm not one to say no."
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