Hudson Young says he’ll take his State of Origin debut with both hands after emerging as a bolter selection in the NSW squad for Game I.

The Canberra second-rower looks set to come off the bench in next Wednesday’s series opener in Adelaide, after being picked as one of three Blues debutants.

Young, 24, admitted he played Sunday evening’s NRL clash with Manly with an Origin call-up squarely on his mind, declaring he “really badly” wants to pull on the blue jersey and become a representative player.

“I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t. I want to play. It’s something I’ve always dreamed to do,” he said briefly before his selection was confirmed.

“Every day you wake up, Origin is something you want to do and I’m not going to shy away from talking about it because it’s something I’ve dreamt as a kid.

“So if I get the chance to go out there and play, I’ll definitely give it everything.

“Everyone will say it’s at the back of their mind, but it’s always at the front because it’s probably the biggest arena in the game.”

Young is Canberra’s only representative player this year after NSW’s Jack Wighton and Queensland’s Josh Papali’i both pulled the plug on distinguished Origin careers.

His knack for finding the line has lifted him to elite status among the game’s second-rowers, with Young backing up last year’s 14 tries with another five this season while playing an important role in helping the Raiders overturn a slow start to the year.

Tom Trbojevic, when asked about his potential teammate after Manly’s thrashing of Canberra on Sunday, described Young as “unorthodox” – a tag the Raider was happy to wear with pride.

“I don’t like doing things the normal way; I like doing things my way,” Young said.

“I love flying under the radar. I’ve done that my whole career. I’m going to continue to do that and if I happen to get the call, I’ll take it with both hands.”

By Alex Mitchell in Canberra