Discarded Australian opener Phil Hughes will draw inspiration from NSW team-mate and captain Simon Katich as he sets about winning back his Test spot this summer.
The precocious Hughes saw his fledgling Test career stall during the Ashes series, losing his position after two Tests and watching the final three games from the pavilion.
But the setback has not dented the 20-year-old's confidence or dulled his appetite for the fight to regain his spot.
For guidance he only needs to turn to Katich, who was out of the Test side from 2005-8 before fighting his way back via weight of runs at domestic level.
"When I first started playing for NSW, 'Kato' came back (after being dropped from the Australian side)," Hughes recalled on Monday after flying in from the Blues' successful Champions League campaign in India.
"The season he had after all that happened was phenomenal."
"He just got runs on top of runs on top of runs in all forms of the game and he got back in there (the Test team)."
"The focus for me is to try and get runs and wins for NSW."
"If you put your name up there you never know what's at the back-end of that."
With Shane Watson cashing in on Hughes' demise at Test level to establish a solid top-of-the-order combination with Katich, Hughes acknowledges the fight ahead of him.
But he hinted he would be willing to drop down the order if he meant another shot at the baggy green.
"As a batsman you've got be prepared to bat anywhere in the order," he said.
"What's happened has happened and I'm not looking too far ahead because I know if you do things can happen."
"I'd love to get back in there but for now the main focus is with NSW."
Meanwhile, explosive Blues opener Dave Warner will begin his case for a recall to the Australia one-day side when NSW meets Western Australia in the Ford Ranger Cup on Sunday.
"We start our domestic season on Sunday and hopefully I can put some numbers on the board there and hopefully the next couple of games," he declared.
"I've got to keep doing what I've got to do – let the bat do the talking – and then eventually I'll get my time."
Warner said of the Blues' Champion League triumph: "It was massive. It's something we will never forget, especially for the young guys who haven't played over there (India) before."
"It was a great thrill. We're always going to be known as the inaugural winners."