Matt Duffie accepts he’s not the athlete he once was.

Eight encounters with the surgeon’s knife will do that to you.

It’s a medical history that makes Duffie one of the more miraculous All Blacks stories.

The Blues and North Harbour winger will make his international debut off the bench when New Zealand face the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday.

At 27, he’s a late bloomer, particularly for an outside back.

It’s ironic that injury to others has left the door ajar for a man who underwent four shoulder procedures and four knee operations during his stop-start NRL stint with the Melbourne Storm.

Only 61 games in six seasons were possible but, through adversity emerged a player with an unrelenting drive.

“I’ll admit, I don’t think I’m the same player that I was before, I don’t think I’m as good as I was physically,” Duffie said in London.

“I’ve probably lost a yard of pace and that sort of stuff but this is what I’ve got now and I’ve just got to make the most of it.

“Mentally, I think I’m 10 times better than I was before that, through those surgeries.”

Representing the All Blacks was never a goal for Duffie, whose heart was set on a Kiwis jersey the moment he left Auckland for Melbourne in his teens.

He was fit and available for one Test, in 2011, but even his code switch in 2016 didn’t come with any All Blacks ambition.

“I wanted the Blues to be the best. I still want Blues rugby to be the best in the country and that was my main focus,” he said.

“Even this year, I never really thought I was worthy of it. It was only when my name was called out, I was just like ‘wow, this is really going to happen’.”

The oldest All Blacks back this week, it hasn’t stopped Duffie training the house down in a bid to impress.

He’s also happy to take advice from players still attending primary school when he left for the Melbourne Storm’s junior programme.

“I’m picking the brains of 21-year-olds and 20-year-olds about their rugby knowledge, which is cool,” he said.

“I’ve been training pretty hard because I’m the new kid in the environment and wanted to prove myself a little bit.”

Duffie is selfish on one matter. He hopes the All Blacks hold a handy lead when he and two other uncapped players – front-rowers Tim Perry and Asafo Aumua – enter the game they can actually enjoy it.