Max King is a self-described pub footballer battling to do his best in the NRL.
But come next Wednesday night, the ever-reliable Canterbury prop can add NSW State of Origin player No.319 to his bio.
King entered his maiden NSW camp on Monday grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of coming off the Suncorp Stadium bench in a Blues jersey next week.
At age 28, the Newcastle junior had thought maybe an Origin call-up was beyond him.
At some stages he had even considered switching his allegiances to his birthland England, which would have made him ineligible for NSW in the process.
In recent weeks King had been tipped off that he was in Laurie Daley's sights, but by late Sunday afternoon he'd given up most hope before the coach rang.
"You look in the media, and who picks Max King in their team? I don't think I saw one team with Max King in it," King quipped.
"It was always a dream of mine to play Origin, but I'm 28. It's not super old, but I've never been anywhere close in my career.
"I do see myself as a pub footballer that's just battling away and doing his best.
"I always felt like God had a calling for me to play NRL, not because I'm a good footballer, but because it was His purpose and His plan."
King has also been part of Daley's plans for some time, impressing as part of a mobile Bulldogs pack that has gone top of the ladder.
The 105kg prop convinced the Blues coach of his worth a fortnight ago, when he chased back on a Gold Coast linebreak at Magic Round just after a hit-up of his own.
"The first day of pre-season I sat down with (Bulldogs coach Cameron) Ciraldo and handed him a piece of paper," King said.
"I said to him that I wanted him to write down what he thinks is a perfect front-rower, and I wanted to evolve (into that).
"I think a big part of why I'm here is the team success, but that evolution of these conversations happening behind the scenes."
The grandson of seven-time Dragons premiership-winner Johnny King, Max's path to Origin has not been easy.
He debuted at Gold Coast in 2017, was released by the club to Melbourne in 2019 and spent more than 500 days out of the game after an achilles injury.
At that time retirement was even on the cards, before a lifeline came from Canterbury and Phil Gould.
"It was a dark time ... I was out for two years. I was off contract. I had no club," King said.
"I always consider myself as just a battler trying to make the best of himself.
"I had to deal with this wrestle of ... I've played 50 games of NRL at a mediocre level, 20 minutes off the bench. Now I've had a permanent injury that I can't recover from.
"I was struggling to manage that God would do all that but leave me here still. I felt like it was just a big test for my faith as well.
"I didn't know what I was doing. It was Gus (Gould) reaching out and giving me that lifeline. Everything comes off the back of that."
