Knights’ signing Edrick Lee wants to use his form at his new club as a springboard back into the Origin conversation.

Lee was called up as 18th man for the Maroons in 2015 when he was at the Raiders, but is yet to make his Origin debut.

His career has since taken him to Cronulla and now the Knights and the 26-year-old still has ambitions of playing for his state.

“I think any player in the NRL who is eligible would say that they want to play for their state and get the chance to play for their country,” Lee said.

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“It’s always a goal and any time you watch the Origin series you feel like you want to be out there.”

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Ironically former teammate Valentine Holmes’s decision to pursue an NFL career could open the door for Lee to achieve his Origin dream.

“It is definitely a goal. It is just a matter of how you perform on the field and how your team is going at club level to be in that arena,” Lee said.

After scoring 33 tries in 67 games for the Raiders, Lee went on to bag 14 tries in two seasons at Cronulla.

However, with 91 first grade games now to his name, he believes that the Knights’ move will see him realise his true potential.

“I think my best is yet to come,” Lee said.

“The year that I just had was just scratching the surface and with the help of Browny (Nathan Brown) and the coaching staff here I think I can take my game to a new level.

“Being away from the Sydney lifestyle and being more comfortable up here, I think I can really give my best over the next couple of years.”

While joining a new club can be daunting, Lee had the benefit of his former Sharks’ teammate Jesse Ramien joining him at the Knights.

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While he had a number of offers to choose from before he agreed to head north to Newcastle, Lee decided the opportunity was just too good to pass up.

“I chose Newcastle because of the roster,” Lee said candidly.

“They have a young exciting roster with a few of the older heads in Aidan Guerra and Mitchell Pearce.

“There are a few young exciting players that I wanted to play with and I thought Newcastle would be a good fit.

“I am looking forward to training and playing with Kalyn Ponga.”

With the squad Nathan Brown has assembled, Lee is confident the team can end their finals drought in 2019.

The Knights have had three wooden spoons since their last top eight appearance in 2013, but the club is building nicely on the back of an improved 2018 season.

“With the squad that we have and the new pieces they have added we are looking to get the team back in the finals,” Lee said.

“We want to be playing September football, but there is a lot of hard work and work to do on our combinations first.”