The resounding opinion of Rugby League fans and commentators around the country is that Blacklock is far and away the standout winger in the National Rugby League competition in 2001. With 17 tries from 15 games, including eight in the past three matches, it's difficult to argue. Yet Blacklock was overlooked in favour of the incumbent pairing of Dragons teammate Jamie Ainscough and Newcastle's Adam MacDougall.

MacDougall, a current Test player, has not been in the form that saw him destroy all comers in season 2000, but his status alone makes it difficult to displace him. Ainscough, however, has scored just six tries in the same period as Blacklock, behind the same forward pack.

It's true that there is more to being a quality winger than scoring tries, and that there has been a question mark over Blacklock's defensive strengths in the past. However, in an odd twist that resembles the Twilight Zone, former Dragons star Anthony Mundine, summed it up surprisingly succinctly when appearing on Channel 7's Monday Dump, hosted by Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson on June 4.

"They say that in sport that attack is your best defence," Mundine said when asked why he thought Blacklock was being neglected. "There's no better or more potent tryscorer than Blacklock in the game. He's the best winger in the world at the moment."

Even Test winger, Wendell Sailor, rated by the majority of commentators as the best winger in the world, believes Blacklock deserves better. "I know Anthony Mundine thought he was hard done by but Nathan Blacklock has been hard done by," Sailor said as he prepared for Queensland's attempt to secure a series victory in Sydney on June 10.

"Surely you couldn't keep playing that well and not get selected. All you could think is 'what's wrong with me, what have I done?'

"He's good under high balls, he's good defensively and he gets the job done.

"I love sitting there watching him playing.

"Of all rugby league players, from any club, I think he's the most hard done by player because he consistently plays well and he's not getting selected."

Sailor attributed his return to form in recent weeks largely to that enjoyment of watching Blacklock play. "I said to Lote (Tuqiri) that he just makes you want to play well," he said.

"Thank God he's not a Queenslander, otherwise I might be out of a job." Sailor also said that Blacklock's attitude could not be questioned. "He's always humble, there's a lot of guys that aren't humble and I'm probably one of those guys."

New South Wales coach Wayne Pearce has abided by the inhouse policy that selection panel discussions are kept strictly confidential, but he did hint that there was disagreement amongst his panel of selectors. In the end, the incumbent Ainscough won out.

Just hours after scoring one of the great individual tries to snatch victory for his beloved Dragons, Blacklock was a shattered man when his name was once again not amongst New South Wales' 17 for the pinnacle clash in the Rugby League calendar. His immediate reaction was to consider giving the game away, or look to follow Sailor and Sharks' back Mat Rogers to Rugby Union.

Rugby League can illafford to lose such a wonderful ambassador, for the game in general and as a role model for indigenous children who strive to match their idol. His work in his home town of Tingha in New South Wales is outstanding and a measure of the character behind the somersalting, tryscoring enthusiast we see on the field each and every week.

He loves the game, he loves his life, he loves his people, his culture and his heritage. It's those sort of qualities Rugby League should be trying to bottle, not alienate.

Many other players have suffered a similar fate to Blacklock, but few have had such an overwhelming swell of support behind them. Only Wally Lewis' controversial omission from the 1990 Kangaroo Tour squad can match this for public scrutiny and outrage.

Mundine himself caused a stir in 1999 and 2000 when overlooked, once again, for Test honours. He believed he had outplayed the likes of Laurie Daley and Brad Fittler, thus proving his credentials to be selected in front of them. Unlike Blacklock, he complained publicly, accusing the selectors of racial bias and playing favourites.

That is one of the great dangers of this situation. The silence of the selectors in explaining their reasons for Blacklock's omission is simply fuel for the ever-bubbling thought that if he was not aboriginal he may have had more of a chance. At the same time, it would not be a satisfactory solution for Blacklock to receive a token selection simply to stave off such suggestions.

The New South Wales selectors are playing with fire. With the series already hanging in the balance after Queensland's opening game triumph, they can illafford to have yet another off-field distraction.

While Blacklock's omission makes Queensland's life somewhat easier, it will also reduce the satisfaction of a win. Afterall, there is nothing more satisfying than defeating the best the opposition has to offer, and there is little doubt MacDougall and Ainscough are not that.

If Blacklock is lost to the game, it will be yet another tragedy, following hot on the heels of Nathan Brown's retirement, and Gorden Tallis' career-threatening medical condition. Combine it with the loss of flamboyant excitement-machines like Sailor and Rogers and Blacklock is another wonderful attraction that the game can illafford to discard.

"It'll be one of the saddest things in rugby league if Nathan Blacklock doesn't get selected for NSW or Australia," Sailor said. And that's an understatement.