KEY POINTS:
Test debutant Jason Nightingale is glad he piped up to former Kiwis league coach Gary Freeman last year.
Until then, the young St George-Illawarra winger was "Jason who?" to New Zealand league officials.
Having scored seven tries from 16 NRL matches in his debut year, Nightingale was unsure
whether anyone knew he was a dinkum Kiwi, albeit one born in Sydney.
"At the end of last year I made sure they knew about me. It was after our last game of the season and I was talking to Gary Freeman and made sure I told him: 'Do you know I'm a Kiwi?'," he said yesterday.
"He said 'no, I'd better tell someone', so he told the right people and it all started rolling from there."
Nightingale, 21, was shoulder-tapped for the Kiwis tour of Britain and France but opted out because he needed off-season ankle surgery.
This year he picked up where he left off in 2007, scoring five tries from seven NRL matches and leading to a call from new coach Stephen Kearney for the centenary test against the Kangaroos at the Sydney Cricket Ground next Friday.
He nearly dropped the phone.
"It took me about 10 seconds to realise what he was saying. I was being a bit cheeky at the start saying 'come on ... ' I noticed the New Zealand accent straight away but I didn't really believe it, but after talking to him for a while I did."
There's no obscure New Zealand connection and certainly no Grannygate controversy around Nightingale. He lived most of the first four years of his life near Mt Maunganui, returned to Australia, then lived two years in Morrinsville at the ages of 11 and 12.
Returning to Sydney with his parents Geoff and Lynda, he played league for Renown United, a strong club in the St George district which also produced current Dragons captain Mark Gasnier.
While he always showed ability, the Kiwis are Nightingale's first major representative team.
There's a strong New Zealand contingent at the Dragons, including Rangi Chase, Ricky Thorby, Chase Stanley and Ben Ellis, who all get teased about their accents, Nightingale said.
With his Aussie twang he escapes the ribbing, but since his callup there's been a bit heading his way.
"I've had about 10 texts saying 'do you even know how to do the haka?'
"I did it as a kid but other than that it's a long way off. I've seen it done 100 times, surely it can't be too difficult."
- NZPA