The bitter taste of past selection disappointments has toughened Gold Coast halfback Scott Prince when representative teams are being named. But today, the call all players dream of, came.

The 28 year-old, who played the first of his two Tests for Australia against Great Britain in the 2005 Tri Nations series, and his Titans teammate Anthony Laffranchi were both rewarded for their excellent NRL seasons with selection in Kangaroo coach Ricky Stuart’s 24-man World Cup squad.

Earlier this year Queensland selectors had controversially ignored his outstanding form, initially overlooking him for the first two Origin games.

But they were forced to rush him into the pressure second game when Queensland skipper Darren Lockyer went down with ongoing knee soreness.

After a strong performance in Origin II, Prince snapped his arm early in the series decider.

He defied medical warnings to make a stunning and risky comeback in an unsuccessful bid to help his team qualify for NRL finals.

“They’d been talking Matty Orford up and the way he’s played this year, I wasn’t overly confident I’d make the squad,” Prince told AAP.

“I’m surprised, happy and stoked all the speculation is finally over.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up because of some of the experiences I’ve had in the past.”

Laffranchi, who made his Origin debut for NSW, was battling to come to terms with the death this week of his father.

But Prince said his 2005 premiership winning teammate at the Tigers was thrilled to have made the Australian squad.

Prince lost his father in a road accident a few years ago when he was playing for the Broncos.

“I spoke to Anthony early this morning and while it’s very difficult for him with his family loss, he was pretty happy to have been picked,” said Prince.

“It’s hard times at the moment.

“I’m just so happy for him. I’m more excited for him than I am for myself at the moment because I know how hard he’s worked to get there.

“I’ve played alongside Anthony for four or five years now and he’s always been knocking on the representative door.”

Titans coach John Cartwright said World Cup selection was a tremendous reward for both players who’d been outstanding all year.

“In footy you don’t always get what you deserve,” Cartwright told AAP from San Francisco where he’s visiting some NFL clubs for fresh coaching ideas.

“They’re two guys who are very deserving of an Australian jumper.

He said Prince should never have come back as early as he did from his arm injury but there was “no stopping him”.

“He shouldn’t have played,” he said.

“The only reason he came back to play was to keep us alive and for us to finish the year on a bit of a high note.

“The dangers (of coming back so soon) were explained to him, but he wasn’t having it.

“It shows you what a tough player he is and what he did for the Titans was way beyond the call of duty.”

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