It's a State of Origin recall he never expected to get, but NSW forward Nathan Hindmarsh hasn't canned his Queen's Birthday weekend holidays just yet.

The veteran Parramatta backrower earned his first selection for the Blues since 2007 on Monday, but has to wait and see if he will survive when the extended 21-man squad is cut to 17 on Wednesday.

Regardless of his fate, Hindmarsh said the chance to potentially take on Queensland one last time was one he was only too willing to tackle.

"Still excited, but we don't really find out until tomorrow, so I'm not going to get over-excited," the 30-year-old said on Tuesday.

"It's still great to be in the mix, last night I found it hard to sleep thinking about coming here today.

"I've been out for two years and it's a very important game, so if I happen to make the side, I'll be over the moon.

"To have the opportunity to go up there and beat Queensland to level the series, it doesn't happen every year and I'm looking forward to it if I make the side."

But the call-up did come as a surprise to the man himself, who felt after missing out last year that any chance to add to his 16 State of Origin appearances had passed him by.

"Last year's Origin series I kinda thought 'well, that's probably done me' but I kept playing football how I like to play football and that's what's got me here so far," he said.

And if Hindmarsh does find himself on the outer again by Wednesday afternoon, he still has a entertaining option for the long weekend.

"I've got the family holiday booked on the Gold Coast this week," he said of his plans given the Eels have a bye in the NRL.

"It's on the backburner at the moment but if I don't make it I'll be straight up the Gold Coast."

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