Beau Fermor was like a kid in a candy store in the Queensland Origin camp last week.
Surrounded by a number of Maroons greats who he grew up watching as a youngster, the 23-year-old admits was in absolute awe of the calibre of players who were now in the coaching staff and had to continually pinch himself to make sure his experience was reality.
But aside from the excitement, the barnstorming back-rower also used the week-long camp in the extended squad to soak up as much as he could, learning plenty to bring back to the Titans ahead of their Round 16 clash against Newcastle this Friday.
"It was unreal. I learnt heaps," Fermor said.
"It was disappointing the boys didn't get the result on Sunday, but just to be in and around those boys and those coaches was unreal and I've learnt heaps which is really good."
"Especially a couple of little things around my defence that Billy (Slater) and Cam (Smith) picked up on and did a bit of work with me on how to fix.
"Hopefully I can bring that back to the Titans and keep working on my game here to push them to get better and get some more wins."
'It was unreal' - Fermor
Whilst the proud Dalby junior's full attention turns to wearing Gold Coast colours for this weekend, in the back of his mind is the chance to go one better for Game III and make his Origin debut in a decider at Suncorp should Slater opt to make changes.
"I think the boys tried really hard on Sunday and all I can do is go out and play my best footy for the Titans on Friday night and hopefully get the win against the Knights," Fermor said.
"Billy did say I was in the squad for a reason and will pick from that squad if he needs to make changes.
"I was just really happy to be in camp and all I can do is play well and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.
"If I earn that opportunity, then I'll be really grateful."
As well as motivation to push into Queensland's top 17, the proud Gold Coast forward wants to help gets some wins on the board to make the community proud and bring plenty of joy to fans after a recent tough time on the field.
"I want to play well for the Titans first and hopefully get some wins for our fans and our community," Fermor said.
"It's been a bit tough lately with wins, so hopefully we can perform really well starting this weekend against the Knights."
"We've got to go down there and put in a good performance because we know that they're going to show up as well.
"They're just as desperate as us to get a win, so we're going to have to be playing really well to be beat them."
This weekend is a huge occasion for the NRL with it being Beanies for Brain Cancer Round, raising money for the Mark Hughes Foundation, and with the former NRL fullback being a proud Novocastrian, Fermor is expecting a huge crowd to be in force to support the cause and the Knights.
"To play down in Newcastle where it all started with Mark Hughes, it'll be awesome to play down there," Fermor said.
"I know being in Newcastle for a couple years before I was here, they really get around the Beanie for Brain Cancer Round and it'll be awesome to play down there in this round.
"Hopefully everyone can get behind with their support and buy beanies, because it's going to a great cause."
