Kangaroos winger and now World Cup winner Josh Addo-Carr has opened up on how he bounced back from his controversial State of Origin axing earlier this year.
The 27-year-old, who plays his club football for the Canterbury Bulldogs, was left out of the Blues squad, with Brian To'o and Daniel Tupou preferred over him.
So when Brad Fittler made that decision, he surely didn't expect the man dubbed ‘the Foxx' to go on to equal Valentine Holmes' record of 12 tries in a World Cup and make the team of the tournament, but he did.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Addo-Carr revealed how hard he had to work to ensure he could give his best for Australia.
“It's definitely been an up and down year for myself personally but I don't regret anything, everything happens for a reason,” he said.
“For Mal to give me the opportunity to be a part of this team… I'm so blessed for him to have trust in me to do a job for our country.
“I definitely worked my backside off this year to try and make this team but I needed a bit of help with the coaching staff trusting that I could do a job.
“My goal was always to try and make this team, I probably thought it would be a bit harder to make the team for not playing Origin but I knuckled down in club land and did the very best I could for the Bulldogs.
“I learnt a lot this year and wouldn't change it for the world.”
For most, the Foxx is an easy player to select for any representative team purely based on his history of success.
He's won three premierships with the Melbourne Storm and three State of Origin series with the Blues, but when asked where this ranks all time, he said it could be right near the top.
“It's up there. I've achieved a lot of things in this game, I've been blessed with being a part of some great teams in the past but this is definitely up there,” he said.
“In 50 years time I'll be able to speak about this moment to my grandkids.
“Who knows, I might not make the next World Cup team. I just want to enjoy every moment of it because these moments don't come around too much.”