The quietly spoken 30-year-old will run out alongside fellow Raider and Queensland enforcer Josh Papalii against the NSW Blues at Sydney Olympic Stadium.

He's surged into the Origin frame off the back of two strong Green Machine campaigns that went deep into the NRL finals.

Now, after 158 NRL appearances at four different clubs, all his Maroons dreams are set to come true.

And it all started from a chat with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.

The Raiders were suffering a raft of injuries to their middle forwards - Josh Hodgson (knee), Sia Soliola (face), Corey Horsburgh (foot) and Emre Guler (ankle) were all on the sidelines, while second-rower John Bateman (shoulder) was also out.

With co-captain Hodgson and veteran Soliola unavailable, Stuart called on Lui to help fill the leadership void.

Lui said having that extra responsibility was the biggest thing he took out of the Raiders' 2020 campaign.

He admitted he'd lost hope of getting an Origin call-up after a career that's spanned a decade since his NRL debut for Brisbane against St George Illawarra in 2010.

Lui would laugh and giggle whenever he heard his name linked with Origin, but now it's come to fruition.

"I think the leadership role I stepped up to. Especially with Sia and Hodgo getting injured there midway through the season," he told The Canberra Times.

"We had a lot of boys who needed to step up and [Stuart] pulled me aside and said I was one of those players that he needed to rely on.

"I said I'd do anything for the boys and if that means stepping up into that leadership role and taking that.

"It made me a better player as well. That made it a lot easier for me to play my game and be vocal around the boys as well.

"There was no more relying on Sia or Hodgo. We all needed to come together and be a leader in our own way.

"I'm not really that vocal at training, but it just sort of came out of me this year. Moving forward I think that was a good thing for me."

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Stuart said Lui was one of the middle forwards that had to endure a massive workload week after week due to the injury toll.

He labelled his and all the others' efforts as courageous and season-defining - without it they wouldn't have made it to this year's preliminary final.

"Dunamis is an underestimated player and character," Stuart said.

"He had a huge input into our performance this season and there was a massive load he had to uptake when we had all our middles injured.

"There's different types of leadership style and 'Nams' is a very underestimated character because he doesn't say a lot, but he certainly actions it through his training ethic and the contribution on game day.

"He's really well respected amongst the playing group and staff. I leant on his experience and follow-me attitude leadership style this year."

With the potential for a fully fit Raiders pack starting the 2021 NRL campaign, Lui was full of hope they could end the club's 26-year premiership drought.

Especially since they were only losing Bateman (Wigan) and Nick Cotric (Canterbury), while they've added Ryan James (Gold Coast).

Plus, the taste a lot of the young guns were given in the Raiders' final-round win over Cronulla would also bear fruit.

"We know we've got a good group here ... it's exciting," Lui said.

"Knowing that we've still got all those boys coming back especially being where we are now with the amount of injuries that we did have and throw in the young boys as well.

"The game they had with the Sharks a few weeks ago I think that was good for them to get that taste of the NRL, to get that experience and get a game under their belt and learn what's needed.

"It's exciting. I hate to say it, but hopefully we can get it next year."

STATE OF ORIGIN II

Wednesday: NSW Blues v Queensland Maroons at Sydney Olympic Stadium, 8.10pm.