WHILE those who know Peter Wallace were yesterday texting him "Congratulations" on his State of Origin debut call-up, former club coach Matt Elliott could only think of muttering another word: "Bugger."

The player reportedly unwanted by Penrith has gone on to star at Brisbane this season and now holds one of the most prestigious jerseys in rugby league; the NSW No.7 shirt. Serves the Panthers right, eh?

"I wish he was still here," Elliott, who likens Wallace to Test cricket great Mark Waugh, admitted yesterday.

Penrith junior Wallace still doesn't understand why the Panthers made such a bumbling attempt to retain him - he was offered more than double the money to sign with Brisbane - but Elliott said rumours that he didn't rate the playmaker's ability were way off.

"The reality is that at the time, [former halfback] Craig Gower was contracted to us," Elliott said. "It is no secret that he was on quite a large salary and we simply could not afford to keep Pete.

"We wanted him. I would have loved for him to stay here, but we only had two options: lose him or breach the salary cap.

"Pete got a very big offer, double what we could afford, and the kid had no choice - and I respect that it makes a great story that we weren't interested in him, but that is just not the truth. All I can say is 'bugger'."

Wallace was "over the moon" about his shock selection yesterday. The 22-year-old was training at Red Hill with Broncos teammates when told the news. He rushed to the airport for a flight to Sydney and was training with the Blues on Coogee Oval by 4pm.

"It's a chance," he said. "I've just got to take it with two hands … I've wanted to play Origin forever.

"At the start of the year I didn't even think about it, I was happy to be at Brisbane starting at halfback … I didn't think about any rep footy, let alone Origin. It's been obviously a pretty good move going up there; we're going well in the comp."

Asked if he wanted to leave Penrith, Wallace said: "At the end of the day, it was my decision to leave. I could have stayed but in my interests I thought it was the best thing."

Elliott, who dropped Wallace from first grade the same week he signed with Brisbane, agreed with NSW coach Craig Bellamy, who selected Wallace because he "never gets flustered".

"He is a smart footballer, he is very gifted and trains hard," Elliott said. "He has great skills, he is a little bit like Mark Waugh in the sense that he has got a lot of time on the ball.

"He will be fine, he is a level-headed kid. He was dropped [last year] because he was going through a bit of a rough patch in form - maybe the contract stuff was bothering him. But he came back in first grade. Maybe the timing of it was unfortunate but it didn't get personal. People like to put drama and intrigue behind it."

As he pulled on the representative kit and met Blues teammates, Wallace was a world away from his predicament this time last year - playing at lock for Penrith's reserve grade side.

"I do get nervous," he said. "But I think getting nervous is a good thing, it means you're thinking about the game."

The game is now thinking about Peter Wallace.