Charlie Gamble is set to leave the British & Irish Lions tour with his stocks firmly raised, the 56-capped Waratah standing out both for his state and for the First Nations Pasifika XV.
Proving a handful for the Lions to deal with at the ruck, Gamble's hard work shone through in his second fixture in Melbourne, becoming the first non-Lions player outside of Los Pumas' Tomás Albornoz to win player of the match.
Final tickets still available! Get your tickets for the British & Irish Lions tour here.
Speaking after the historic fixture, Gamble found the transition up to playing at a higher level one of the most enjoyable of his career, especially as part of the inaugural First Nations Pasifika side.
"I think for myself, it's pretty easy," Gamble said to reporters on Tuesday. "You want to get some of the best players in the world and at the end of the day you want to match that
"I've always known I've had the ability. It's probably just the consistency of my career. It's something that I'm trying to find.
"I always knew I was in there. So, it's good to just do it back-to-back.
"We've had a great week. Really connected. Every day we've learnt something about different cultures. You know, the journeys that everyone's gone through.
"It's hit pretty deep. A lot of these players I didn't know before. I've played them in Super Rugby games. I get to know them on a deeper level. It's been pretty cool. Honestly, it's pretty easy to get up there and just put our body on the line.
"I probably lost my Tongan side a bit as I left home. Even learning bits of my own culture has been pretty special. At the end of the day, we're all playing different teams. We're all different people. But our journey and our story that we have growing up is actually pretty similar."
Gamble is excited to see what the future holds for the First Nations Pasifika concept, with the fixture proving a resounding success despite the close loss to the Lions.
"We started the week and we said we had a big responsibility," Gamble explained.
"You look at the media, you look at everyone commenting, they say we're going to lose by 50. They said the same thing about Tahs. We probably just put them in the pump and we had a good crack.
"I think we put in a pretty good space, this team. I think there should be a lot more fixtures involved for sure in the future."
While the Lions series now pivots to the remaining two Tests, Gamble believes that, despite the provincial sides not securing a win against the visitors, several matches exposed key areas that the Wallabies can exploit.
"I think the Tahs and the Brumbies really showed that, with time and space down, they create errors," the flanker said.
"They're not superhuman. They make errors and we showed that, physically.
"It's in our First Nations and Pacific culture, and we showed that if you can put a couple of bodies in there and hurt them a little bit, it definitely rattles them.
"I think the Wallabies can take a bit of that."
Whether Gamble can finally crack the Wallabies is a question for another time, however.
Despite his solid form, Gamble acknowledges that competition in the loose forwards is arguably more fierce than any other position in Australian rugby.
"I don't know. It's tough because depth at seven is pretty good in Australia," Gamble admitted when asked about his Wallaby prospects.
But like I said last time, I'm always ready when it happens. If it happens, if it never happens, it is what it is. I understand why. Carlo [Tizzano] and Fraser [McReight] are unreal players and I respect their game. They're both good players, great people.
"If I get an opportunity, then I'm just going to have to take it. Like I said, it might never happen, but I just keep myself fit and see what happens.
"At least I get them thinking a little bit hopefully. Maybe one day we'll see."
