The 27-year-old played all three games in the Blues breakthrough series victory last year and - in an underperforming side - has been one of the Dragons best this season.

Still, he insists he is not taking another Blue jumper as a given.

"I'd love obviously love to be there. Being involved in that team last year's something I hold pretty close to my heart," he said.

"The last couple of weeks [at club level] haven't been great collectively as a team but if my name's read out on Sunday I'll be over the moon.

"I'll be ecstatic and I'll certainly do everything I can to play well in the series, but we need to win here first."

You can believe it's not just lip service given he's been nothing but frank about his Origin prospects throughout his career.

Even amid a breakout season with the Dragons in 2017, he stated openly he didn't think he was ready for an Origin call-up - not that he's have knocked a jumper back.

With that season in the bank he came in 2018 making no secret of his Origin ambitions and backed it up on the park.

"The first year when I came here it was probably the career-best footy that I'd played but that was the only really consistent year where I was starting and playing good footy," he said.

"For myself I just wanted to use that as a platform. Last year I was happy with my form, I probably could've been playing better but I got selected.

"I just wanted to take everything in. I think the biggest thing is just getting the trust and respect from everyone in the team and then going out and proving you deserve to be there.

"You're in the team but you've got to earn that, that's the way I look at it. I want to earn the respect and trust of everyone. If I'm picked I'll be looking to do that again."

That evolution could well continue this season where he'll be asked to lead a pack after coming off the bench in his first two outings.

"I can't think of anything bigger than wearing the No. 10 in Origin," Vaughan said.

"If I'm given the opportunity to start in Origin I'm not going to take it lightly, it's the toughest game you can play.

"I wore it in game three last year which was unbelievable. It was probably the proudest moment of my life after getting married and [having] my kid."

The commitment extends to club level with the Dragons desperate to avoid five straight losses when they host Cronulla in Wollongong on Sunday.

"It's been a pretty frustrating few weeks," he said.

"The first loss you don't want to compound into back to back losses and the last thing you want is three. Now we're looking at four, it's pretty frustrating.

"Obviously we've got to do everything we can to beat the Sharks and then we've got the week off. All the boys will be front-loading the energy and it's a pretty important game for us."