Newcastle whiz-kid Jarrod Mullen has been given the pressure-filled NSW halfback role for the first State of Origin game.
The 20-year-old will make his Origin debut after beating veteran Sharks playmaker Brett Kimmorley for the key position.
Mullen admits he was stunned to be named at halfback for NSW in next week's opening State of Origin clash, despite constant media speculation he would be included in the squad.
"I honestly thought selectors weren't interested," Mullen said.
"There's been a lot of talk over the last few weeks but I've been ignoring it to focus on my job with the Knights.
"Since Joey [Andrew Johns] retired we've been busy planning for the future and there's a lot of experienced halfbacks running around that I thought would be picked ahead of me.
"This is a dream come true. It's the reason young blokes play football.''
NSW chairman of selectors, Bob McCarthy, has no doubts Mullen can handle the job.
"His form has been pretty good, everyone seems to think he is a young bloke but he is 20 years of age," said McCarthy.
"He is pretty strong. The thing about him is that every time he gets the ball he makes a half break or full break. He will do the job for us, provided our forwards do the job for us."
NSW coach Graham Murray said the choice between Mullen and Kimmorley was close but that all decisions were "unanimous".
"[Kimmorley] is in the best form that I've seen him at club level for a long time. There's not much between them," said Murray.
Mullen was one of four Knights named in the NSW side alongside fellow rookie Kurt Gidley and experienced pair Steve Simpson and captain Danny Buderus.
The other much-discussed position of right wing was handed to Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne over Canterbury's Hazem El Masri.
Mullen and Hayne are two of five debutants in the NSW team
joining Melbourne's Brett White, the Roosters's Anthony Tupou and
Newcastle's Kurt Gidley.
Manly's Jamie Lyon, who is facing a one-match ban for a dangerous throw, is the team's first-choice goalkicker, following the omission of El Masri.
Lyon will contest the charge at the NRL judiciary. Should he fail Murray said they would need to bring somebody into the squad who could also be a first-choice goalkicker.
There is also the option of putting Gidley into the starting
line-up from the bench as he is the regular goalkicker for the
Knights.
The omission of the Sharks backrow pair, Paul Gallen and Greg Bird, caused ripples across the border. The former Queensland enforcer, Gorden Tallis, told smh.com.au that Gallen and Bird would have been among the first selected had they been Queenslanders.
"There is no doubt. If those two were Queenslanders they would be in the backrow without a doubt," Tallis said. "It just goes to show how strong NSW is to leave out players of that quality. By kick-off, NSW will be favourites."
Tallis dismissed suggestions that Queensland, with an almost all-Australian backline, would start as favourites for the series. "How many backlines have won an Origin game?" he asked.
The former NSW coach, Tommy Raudonikis, also said Gallen and Bird would "be in my side if I was picking it".
NSW: Anthony Minichiello, Matt King, Jamie Lyon, Matt Cooper, Jarryd Hayne, Braith Anasta, Jarrod Mullen, Brent Kite, Danny Buderus (capt), Brett White, Nathan Hindmarsh, Willie Mason, Andrew Ryan. Res: Luke Bailey, Steve Simpson, Anthony Tupou, Kurt Gidley.
with AAP
