Peats 'broke down' over Origin selection

NSW State of Origin selector Peter Sterling has revealed Nathan Peats fought back tears on day one of Blues camp when talking about how much his selection meant to him.

On Tuesday night's On The Couch With Sterlo, Sterling said the young hooker became emotional when he was asked to explain what Origin meant to him.

“Laurie got the players in a group and he finished that introductory session by asking the players to say why it was important to them to be playing State of Origin,” Sterling said.

“There was some great answers because everybody was talking about family and what it meant.

“Nathan Peats broke down a touch, and he was talking about the sacrifices that others had made for him to get where he was, and he didn’t want to let them down because of what they had done.

“When I saw that I thought straight away we’ve got a great young bloke here.”

The raw emotion on display from Peats goes to show just how ready he is for the cauldron of State of Origin.

However a touching tweet from 2012 shows Peats never thought he'd actually achieve the incredible goal.

Queensland legend Gordon Tallis has also revealed the moment he knew Peats was destined to represent his state on the game's biggest stage.

Tallis on Tuesday revealed how an 89kg Peats went toe-to-toe with 124kg Dave Taylor at a South Sydney pre-season camp in Coffs Harbour some years ago.

"Nathan actually wanted to fight Dave Taylor. We were at Coffs Harbour in a training camp and Dave Taylor hit him off the ball," Tallis told The Daily Telegraph.

"’Peatsy’ got the shits, big time, he really got into it. So Peats then flies out of the line and hits Dave Taylor.

"Taylor went sideways and ended up on his arse. Peats stood over him like when Ali decked Liston."

"I said at the time, ‘this kid has got it’. I thought he had some mettle. He was only small and was still trying to fight his way into first grade back then.

"He just doesn’t take a backward step. Taylor didn’t try it again."

The 26-year-old earned a last-minute call-up into Laurie Daley's Blues side due to the late omission of Peter Wallace due to a groin strain.

He was preferred to incumbent Robbie Farah due to his ability to provide early ball to halves Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney.