St George Illawarra Dragons second-rower Tyson Frizell concedes he is still coming to terms with being named in the Australia Kangaroos squad for the upcoming Four National Tournament in England later in October.
The local Corrimal Cougars junior, alongside teammate Josh Dugan, is part of a 24-man squad named by Head Coach Mal Meninga for the international contest.
The Dragons ‘Player of the Year’ Award winner admits the selection has capped a remarkable year for him which also saw him make his NSW Blues debut during State of Origin.
The Kangaroos will host an international fixture against the New Zealand Kiwis, featuring fellow teammate Jason Nightingale, at nib Stadium, Perth on Saturday.
“Individually it’s been quite nice and getting a call-up into the Four Nations squad is something that I presently can’t get to grips with,” said Frizell.
“I am very privileged to be a part of this touring Australia team and its exciting times ahead when I do hopefully get to pull on that jersey.
“I wasn’t too sure if I was in to be honest as I hadn’t heard anything about it beforehand so I was shocked when my wife gave me the phone call and so was she.
“I also found out that Dugan was along there with me which was nice to hear too having played a few games together this year with various representative jerseys and also Dragons too.
“We were both part of the Prime Minister’s XIII which was a bit of an eye-opener and seeing the passion that the locals over there do have by welcoming us in their thousands upon arrival shows how strong the game is over there.
“I am happy to be part of this team now and being able to be around the calibre of players but the squad named does look fairly young and hopefully the guys coming through are there for a long time like me.
“It’ll be weird coming up against Nightingale as I never have before having always been on the same team as him.
“It should be good fun if I do get to wear the jersey and it is against him.”
