Fonua-Blake will start in the front row for NSW at Accor Stadium on Wednesday aged 30 after being made available for the Blues as a result of an off-season tweak to the eligibility rules.
But the one-time Kiwis Test prop, who burst onto the scene with Manly in 2016, has taken a rocky road to his Origin debut.
Fonua-Blake often courted controversy when he was younger and credits a move to the Warriors in 2021 as reviving his career and getting him on the straight and narrow.
"When you're younger you get your priorities mixed up and I had to grow up a bit too," Fonua-Blake said.
In 2020, Fonua-Blake was sanctioned by the NRL for using an ableist slur.
Two years later he was warned by the NRL for celebrating with a hand sign that appeared to be a show of support for ex-Manly teammate Manase Fainu, who was jailed for stabbing a youth leader at a church dance in 2019.
In 2024, Fonua-Blake was stood down for one game by the Warriors for failing to show up for coach Andrew Webster's post-match address.
"I can't thank the New Zealand Warriors enough for how much they helped me and my family too," Fonua-Blake said.
"It was a hard decision to leave them, given everything that they helped me get through.
"I definitely grew up a lot over those years that I was over there.
"I don't really live in the 'what ifs' man, so I'm not too sure where I would have ended up."
Fonua-Blake has already played 219 NRL games to date and will become the most-experienced player to debut for NSW since Hazem El Masri in 2007 when he takes the field on Wednesday night.
He has been named to start alongside former Warriors teammate Mitch Barnett, who he describes as the "big dog" of the NSW pack.
"I formed a really good friendship with Barney and he's one of my favorite players to play alongside," Fonua-Blake said.Â
"I can't wait to get back in the arena and play some good footy with him."
Fonua-Blake was reluctant to get into a war of words with Queensland - he spent the early part of his life in the sunshine state - but wants to channel the spirit of another former Cronulla favourite, Paul Gallen, and take it to the Maroons.
"It's hard to go past Gal and the way that bloke put his body through the wringer every time he played for this jersey and then also backed up every week," Fonua-Blake said.
"Blokes like that, you see them playing and you think what a machine. Hopefully I can do that on Wednesday."
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