A run-in with a deadly three-metre snake while visiting grandma Iris earlier this year was the scariest thing Brisbane winger Jharal Yow Yeh has experienced in his life.

That was until he got a telephone call from his Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin on Sunday telling him he was the bolter in Tim Sheens' Kangaroo side to play New Zealand on Friday night.

"To be honest, I don't know what you're going to think about me saying this, but I'm a bit lost, I'm seriously a bit lost," confessed Yow Yeh as the reality started to sink in on Monday.

"To be 21 and playing for Australia, I never would have been thinking that would happen."

Yow Yeh is likely to confront another Test debutant, Melbourne's exciting winger Matt Duffie, at Skilled Park when his club captain Darren Lockyer equals Kiwi great Ruben Wiki's world record of 55 Test appearances.

While he's still coming to grips with his shock selection, it won't be nearly as frightening as stepping on the snake outside his Grandma's Brisbane house.

"The snake was seriously that big, I didn't know what to do," said Yow Yeh, spreading his arms wide to describe its size.

"I can't say what I was doing, but I was pretty scared."

He joked that if his Brisbane teammate Sam Thaiday had been there and killed it, he would have helped him eat it.

"But there was no way I was going anywhere near it," he laughed.

Yow Yeh arrived for breakfast on Monday morning sporting red eyes after a sleepless night.

He and room mate Brett Morris had talked for a while and watched a bit of TV before turning out the lights.

"I just sat there all night," said Yow Yeh.

"I had red eyes this morning. All the boys thought I'd gone out, but I just got no sleep at all."

Brisbane-born Yow Yeh felt proud to be one of a record six indigenous players, along with Brisbane teammates Thaiday and Justin Hodges, to be named for the Test clash.

"It feels great knowing we're inspiring indigenous people so we're obviously doing something right," he said.

Yow Yeh's family, including grandma Iris, who he says he probably should have listened to more as a kid, were already putting in requests for tickets.

"I seriously don't have a clue how many (tickets) I need, my nan's asking for a lot," he said.

"I'm going to try my best to get as many as I can but if I invited my whole family, I know I wouldn't be able to fit them in here (Skilled Park).

"It'll probably cost me my whole match fee but I'll get as many as I can."

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