Powerhouse Penrith winger Josh Mansour has been named to make his Origin debut in Game 1 of this year’s series, to be played next Wednesday night at ANZ Stadium.
Having earned an Australian Test jersey in the 2014 Four Nations series, Mansour’s NSW selection caps a momentous comeback from a plethora of injuries that derailed his 2015 season.
While clearly overwhelmed and elated to have finally realised his Origin dream, Mansour says he wouldn’t have been in contention to make the team without the belief of his Penrith teammates.
“It’s a massive achievement. I’m speechless. I still don’t know what to make of it,” Mansour exclaimed.
“It’s obviously been one of my goals and getting this opportunity that I’ve worked extremely hard for, I’m so thankful.
“My performances have come off the back of the team and I’m grateful for the team in giving me the confidence every week. I’m rapped.”
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Mansour said that while he and his teammates had heard plenty of talk concerning possible Origin selection, he refuted claims the selection hype may have been a contributing factor to yesterday’s shock home loss to the Gold Coast Titans.
Instead, he said Penrith paid the price for not paying enough respect to their opposition.
“There was talk going around (surrounding Origin) but I’m sure like all our boys we were focused (on the Titans game),” Mansour said.
“While I had my fingers crossed, I didn’t think much about it to be honest. I’ve only been thinking about my job here at Penrith.
“All the senior players and obviously the coaching staff were really pushing to focus on the Titans game.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t finish strongly and that we should have put the game away earlier on.
“Our defence wasn’t up to scratch and we let in a lot of soft tries. That comes to not giving the opposition enough respect.
“Coming back home we were a bit too confident, which shows you’ve got to respect every NRL team you come up against, and I don’t think we did that.”
Mansour also confirmed he has begun talks with Penrith regarding his future at the club post-2016.
“We are working on that at the moment,” Mansour said.
“I’ve been happy with my form at this point, but hopefully I can get my future sorted soon and only have to just worry about my footy alone.”
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