NSW veteran Trent Barrett wants the State of Origin fairy tale he threw away three years ago.
Barrett quit representative football in 2006 as part of the terms of his release from St George Illawarra to play in England from 2007, forfeiting his chance to be part of the NSW team chasing a record-breaking fourth straight series title.
How quickly things have changed.
He returns in 2009 with NSW on the brink of conceding that exact history to a Queensland side already with a 1-0 lead in the series.
The recalled 31-year-old five-eighth said he regretted quitting representative football and wanted to make amends by leading the Blues to something special.
''In 2006 I did [retire] and it's something I probably regret,'' Barrett said yesterday. ''You don't realise what you've got until it gets taken away from you I suppose.
''One of the hardest things about leaving was missing these sorts of games ... that is what makes this all the more special for me, thinking I wouldn't get to play it again and now here I am. I'm really lucky.''
And he is determined not to let his return become part of Queensland history as a Maroons win at ANZ Stadium would secure the first-ever fourth straight series win by an Origin side.
''It's something we don't want to be part of and I certainly don't, being part of the team that couldn't stop them,'' he said.
''It's going to take a special effort to beat them and not too many people will give us much of a hope, but we certainly think we can win and our thinking is if we can win and go to Brisbane and win again, I will be able to look back on this with a hell of a lot of satisfaction.''
While Barrett believes next Wednesday's Origin II could be the most important rugby league game of his stellar career, he insists he is not the sole saviour of the Blues.
Two years with Wigan in England helped Barrett relax and realise that he doesn't need to put such pressures on himself.
''I've come back from England a lot more relaxed and I know I can play and I know if I play to my ability I will play well,'' he said.
''I'm not daunted by the task, I'm not worried about it, I'm more excited about it.
''You never know when your last Origin game is going to be, this might be it. I'm going to make it a good one.
''I'm not going to let the burden of expectation put a dampener on my week. I'm not going to let the buzz of it all or the hype of it all or the media ruin a good experience for me. It's something I want to enjoy.
''It's going to take more than me playing well to beat them ... we're going to need 17 players that play to the level they play at and better. If we do that we can beat them.''
Barrett says the most important thing over the next nine days will be to acquaint himself with his new teammates, most of whom he has never met.
His halfback, Peter Wallace, was in primary school when Barrett debuted for NSW in 1997.
''I had a good think about my first game on the way in. That was 12 years ago, Tommy [Raudonikis] was the coach then, I think, and Geoff Toovey was the captain ... There [is] certainly some different faces.'' he said. AAP
STATE OF ORIGIN II
Wednesday, June 24 at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, 8pm. TV time: Live on WIN.
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