He has played only 284 minutes for the entire season, but Tevita Pangai jnr has vowed he is ready to be Brad Fittler’s standover man and make a mockery of historic comments he once supported Queensland.
Having repaired his relationship with Fittler, Pangai jnr was the selection shock when the Blues unveiled their game one team on Monday.
The Bulldogs forward has only played six games this season back from a calf injury, and has managed to play more than 50 minutes just once.
But his biggest obstacle to returning to the Blues fold was when he once offered to help former Maroons coach Kevin Walters in an opposed session if needed, having developed an affinity with Queensland through Greg Inglis.
Fittler put the affair to bed as soon as Pangai jnr arrived in camp.
“You say some dumb things,” Pangai jnr said. “I was just young, just trying to have a laugh with the journalists up there in Brisbane. I guess they loved it. It’s been a long road and I’ve been in contact with Freddy for four or five years now.
NSW Blues rookie Tevita Pangai jnr.Credit: James Brickwood
“I have to play on the edge of my game. I have to sail close to the wind to be at my best and do my best for the team. I just think my competitive drive and the competitive [spirit] made me want to test myself against the best [at Origin level].”
The 27-year-old will join Payne Haas, Junior Paulo, Liam Martin and Hudson Young in a Blues forward rotation which will carry more mongrel than previous editions.
But it is the calming influence of Sonny Bill Williams which has helped mould Pangai jnr in recent years, Williams training with the Blues prop over summer in a bid to get him in career-best shape.
“He’s a brute on the field, he’s an enforcer, but a very intelligent man,” Williams said. “For example, if you say, ‘This is the style of eating you’ll get a lot of benefits from, or the style of training’, he will then go and do his own study.
Tevita Pangai jnr and Sonny Bill Williams (inset).Credit: NRL Photos, Getty
“We were doing some long-distance running for boxing, and I was talking to him about heart rate and working in different zones, and then I found out he went and worked with a long-distance runner and joined a running club. I knew the hard work would pay off for him.
“I think he’s starting to get a feel and a balance for how he plays, or not having to prove he’s the tough guy on the field. For a lot of people it was a bit of a shock he got picked, but you could see the progression and Freddy knows what he brings to the table in terms of being an enforcer.”
Said Pangai jnr: “I just love the way [Williams] was as a player, as a young Polynesian kid. There were three players I really loved – GI, Israel [Folau] and Sonny – they were my three favourite players. He’s been a big role model for me. It was just the way he played the game, he was aggressive and he was skillful.”
The Blues will need every bit of Pangai jnr’s aggression and skill to win game one in Adelaide, having parachuted the former Broncos star into the squad after Jake Trbojevic withdrew with a calf problem.
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo told Pangai jnr he was in Blues contention before his side’s comeback win against the Titans, with the forward producing a superb second half stint to sway Fittler’s thinking.
“For me, when he runs out next Wednesday night, I will be glued to the TV supporting him, supporting Payne Haas, supporting all the islander boys,” Williams said.
“I see him as a leader. A lot of our islander boys don’t see themselves as leaders, because of where they come from. The majority of us come from nothing. They’re doing it for themselves, their families and their villages, their communities. It means a lot now.
“The beauty of today’s age is they open up and step into that space. They’re taking it upon themselves to understand they are leaders.”
Pangai jnr will be one of three Origin debutants for NSW in the series opener, joining Young and Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes.
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