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He's played alongside Queensland's greatest, now Will Chambers is aiming to help build a new State of Origin legacy for the Maroons.
Queensland's generation next took centre stage in Wednesday's State of Origin series opener but the spirit of their glorious past is still evident in Will Chambers.
While young gun Kalyn Ponga and excitement machine Cameron Munster starred in the 18-14 win, veteran Chambers was busy proving he's far from done in a Queensland jersey.
The pressure on the Melbourne Storm centre was immense as he faced up to his 2018 nemesis - Blues star Latrell Mitchell.
The 21-year-old had dominated Chambers relentlessly throughout his maiden Origin campaign, the pair often sharing verbals or argy-bargy as the Blues rookie came away from the series victorious.
Chambers' personal pressure mirrored that on the team as a whole.
NSW were red-hot favourites for the 2019 series as the Maroons faced the Blues without any of Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater or Cooper Cronk for the first time since 2003.
Chambers began his Origin career playing alongside those legends and stepped up in their absence with a dominant display that made last year's woes a distant memory.
The 31-year-old combined with right winger Dane Gagai to torment Mitchell throughout the game.
The turnaround in fortunes was manifested in the first half when Mitchell slipped as he took on the Maroons line.
Prone on the ground, Chambers was first in as Maroons piled on top of the Blues centre, making sure to give his opposite number a verbal spray in the process.
While everything went wrong for Mitchell, culminating in a second-half sin-binning which swung the match in Queensland's favour, Chambers ended with 19 tackles, 123 running metres, one line break and one tackle bust.
It was an exciting return to form for the veteran who said an Origin camp trip to the outback Queensland town of Charleville had ensured the new faces in the Maroons setup understood the legacy they are taking on.
"We're a proud state, we really believe that," Chambers told AAP.
"We got out to Charleville to see what it meant to them.
"The boys had a bit of an eye-opener and they started to believe that we've got a special group here and we can do something special.
"It's one-third done, couple more games to go yet."
Chambers said he's also coming to terms with moving into the veteran category, a reality that became apparent during his first half line break when NSW pair Josh Addo-Carr and James Tedesco combined to deny him a try.
"Once upon a time I'd like to have thought I'd score from there," Chambers said.
"The old legs are still there. I'm still doing my job.
"Yeah I'm a bit older than some of the young boys - especially David Fifita - he makes me feel like a dinosaur. I'm only 31, he's 19.
"It's good, it's pretty special."
