Six weeks ago Brett Morris' representative career was on its deathbed.
But now the NSW veteran has set himself the task of preventing Queensland counterpart Dane Gagai from becoming the first winger to claim the Wally Lewis medal in the Origin decider.
Gagai is a strong contender to be crowned player of the series, topping the metre count to arguably be the Maroons' best player.
No winger has won the award since its inception in 2004, and Morris admits stopping Gagai would go a long way to helping the Blues take out the major prize - the Origin shield.
"You always want to try and outplay your opposite number. He's had two pretty big games so if we can try and keep him quiet, it'll definitely help," Morris said in Kingscliff on Saturday.
Gagai scored the Maroons' two tries in the Blues' second half collapse in game two to lift his total career Origin tries to seven in just six games.
However it's his combined series-high 409 metres which has him in range of Jarryd Hayne's 2009 mark of 588 metres that could net him the Lewis medal.
"Across the board of their side, their back five does a very good job of bringing the ball back out of trouble, and their big boys get on the back of that," Morris said.
"(Gagai has) done a lot of work and he's a handful. He's one of those guys that you've got to be aware every time he gets the ball."
Slowing Gagai down isn't the only motivation for Morris, with the Canterbury star also yet to properly taste an Origin series victory in six attempts.
The Blues winger did play in game one of their breakthrough 2014 series, but was injured in the same game and missed out on their game two triumph.
The door appeared shut on his representative career when he was overlooked for last year's series, however coach Laurie Daley called him back following an injury to Tom Trbojevic in May.
"Young Tommy Turbo there, he's a great young player and if it wasn't for his injury, I probably would've been watching this whole series at home," Morris said.
"It gave me an opportunity and I just try not to let Laurie down. It was a big ask to put me in after the year that I had last year with the injury."
Victory could also pave the way for an unlikely call-up to the Kangaroos side for the World Cup later this year, although Morris insisted his focus is on Wednesday night.
"If you'd ask me at the start of the year, I definitely would've said no because rep footy wasn't even on my calendar," he said.
MOST METRES BY AN OUTSIDE BACK IN ORIGIN SERIES
Wendell Sailor (Qld) - 737m in 1998
Dale Shearer (Qld) - 703m in 1992
Gary Belcher (Qld) - 669m in 1990
Garry Jack (NSW) - 647m in 1987
Paul Hauff (Qld) - 617m in 1991
Jarryd Hayne (NSW) - 588m in 2009
Share
