He wore a punch from one of his old teammates, but Robbie Farah landed the killer blow.
Farah made a compelling case to keep his NSW spot after turning in his best performance of the season in South Sydney's win over the Wests Tigers on Friday.
Making his first start since round four, a vintage Farah set up two tries, two line breaks and tallied a team-high 40 tackles in a 80-minute effort at ANZ Stadium.
He also wore a glancing punch from Ava Seumanufagai that landed the Tigers prop in the sin bin, but responded by laying on a try for Sam Burgess four minutes later.
Speaking after the match, the incumbent Blues vice-captain was adamant he had nothing to prove to NSW coach Laurie Daley and selection adviser Peter Sterling.
"My past performances at rep level, I guess Laurie and the selectors will know what they're going to get from me," Farah said.
"If anything, I think it was good for my confidence to go out there, play 80 minutes and get a good performance under my belt.
"I guess it's just going to come down to what Laurie and the selectors want, the style of play and what they want from their dummy half.
"If they think that I'm the best option, I'll definitely put my hand up and do the best job I can."
Farah did admit to being concerned that his lack of playing time may affect his chances; Friday's outing was his first 80-minute effort since round one.
But the 33-year-old said he was determined not to let his Origin ambitions distract him from delivering at club level.
"You've got to put that in the back of your mind because I have got a job to do here. I was just focused on whatever role that Madge (Souths coach Michael Maguire) wanted me to play," he said.
"Obviously it's a bit unnatural for me coming off the bench. It probably took me a little time to adapt there.
"I'm a hooker that likes to build my game, get a feel for things in the middle of the park and to be out there from the start and to be able to do that tonight was really pleasing."
Farah will have no better audition than when the Rabbitohs take on leaders Melbourne and Queensland skipper Cameron Smith next week
"I think the team will be picked by then anyway, but it's always a good challenge coming up against Cam. We've had some great battles in the past," he said.
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