Sailor had been tipped to play in Friday night's blockbuster against his old club Brisbane since signing with St George Illawarra last month. Brown called the 33-year-old late on Monday night to discuss his potential selection.

Sailor said even when he awoke yesterday morning he wasn't sure he would be chosen to play his first top-level game since a two-year ban for cocaine use and his first NRL game since 2001.

But Sailor's declaration was enough for Brown to thrust him back into the limelight, naming him on the wing for the Broncos clash at WIN Stadium.

"He rang me last (Monday) night and said he was having a think whether to start me or maybe play me off the bench," Sailor said at training in Wollongong yesterday. "He asked me if I could do the job and I said 'I can do the job'. I left it up to him and he said he was going to have a sleep on it and he obviously had a good sleep.

"I just found out here this morning."

The selection marks the final step in Sailor's return to professional sport, the big winger having played the past three Jim Beam Cup games with Dragons feeder club Shellharbour Marlins.

After testing positive to cocaine in 2006, Sailor was written off as an ageing football outcast, but he kept alive the dream of a return and yesterday was rewarded for his perseverance.

"It's going to be a great chance for me to redeem myself - to show people that wrote me off a few years back," he said.

Full story in Wednesday's Mercury