Instead of a State of Origin debut to remember, NSW utility Jack Wighton had one he quickly wants to forget.
But the Canberra NRL star is hoping he gets a shot at redemption in State of Origin II after throwing a match-turning intercept in Wednesday's 18-14 loss to Queensland.
Wighton cut a shattered figure in the Blues dressing room after his dream Origin call-up became a nightmare.
Thrust into the furnace after five-eighth Cody Walker was surprisingly benched in the second half, the interchange utility impressed coach Brad Fittler.
Until the 67th minute.
With scores locked 8-8 and the Blues on the attack Wighton beat centre Will Chambers and chanced his arm, passing to an apparently try-bound Josh Addo-Carr.
Then Queensland winger Dane Gagai struck.
To Wighton's horror, Gagai snaffled up the floating ball and ran 95m to score to give Queensland the lead for the first time.
Gagai finished off NSW four minutes later when he gobbled up a cut out pass from fullback Kalyn Ponga to score.
NSW was gutted but Wighton was arguably feeling the most pain.
"If I had my chance again I would have held on to it but I just wanted to make the play - but that's the way it goes," Wighton told AAP.
"I learned a hard lesson. It just happened to be on the biggest stage.
"It hurts obviously but it's all about bouncing back."
Wighton hopes Fittler will give him that chance when the team is named for June 23's Origin II in Perth.
"I just have to see what happens. We didn't get the result so anything can happen," he said.
"But I just want to try to make things better and go again (for NSW)."
For the record Fittler liked what he saw from Wighton - expect of course, that pass.
"I thought Jack did a brilliant job. It was a shame he threw an intercept but I thought prior to that his runs were great," he said.
Wighton was still proud of how far he had come after earning a NSW nod.
He appeared nowhere near Origin selection when slapped with a suspended sentence and a fine in November over his involvement in a Canberra brawl.
"My goal was to get back into the Origin picture. I did that. I just have to learn from what has happened and hopefully go again for the Blues," he said.
