IT WASN'T his outright speed cultivated by schoolboy sprinting days. Or his excellent finishing. It had more to do with aspects of his game many wingers are eager to avoid. Wanting to be physical. Wanting to get involved. It grabbed Robbie Deans's attention.

For years, Queensland winger Peter Hynes was regarded as a good Super 14 winger, but there were doubts over whether he was of a high enough calibre to take the next step.

After all, he had been hovering around the Australian scene since 2003, sometimes excelling, but more often not standing out from the crowd during his 50-plus appearances for the Reds.

As he moved towards his 26th birthday, it seemed Test selection might have passed Hynes by. But Deans saw more and decided to make Hynes one of his original left-field selections for the opening Test of the season against Ireland. And it has been with delight that the coach has watched the player bloom, to the extent the winger has been one of Australia's most consistent and threatening players of 2008.

Deans, in his previous role as Crusaders coach, had been watching Hynes for a while. What some had taken for granted in Hynes's game, Deans thought he could build on. He was impressed with his physicality and that he was willing to come in off his wing to help the midfielders, doing a lot of the tough stuff that many in his position prefer to avoid.

In Deans's eyes, Hynes was someone who not only wanted to get the glory of being a finisher, but was also eager to get his hands dirty. He fitted in perfectly with the Deans game plan, to the extent that Hynes and Matt Giteau were the only two Australian back-line players to appear in all nine domestic Tests.

Nonetheless, Hynes was as surprised as many others when he received the original call-up from Deans in June.

"It has been an incredible year," Hynes told the Herald. "You always hope to get that call, but you never really think you're going to get it. But I've always lived in hope.

"I didn't think the first Test of the year I would be playing, let alone starting. Then we played the Springboks and All Blacks, and it got better and better. And now England at Twickenham … that is going to be unbelievable.

"I've been told Twickenham is one of the great venues to play Test football, and I just can't wait for it, even if it is going to be hostile."

Not surprisingly for someone who had to wait so long for his chance, Hynes has tried to temper his emotions and stay composed. He knows it can all finish as quickly as it starts. There are no big statements from Hynes, instead quiet efficiency in everything he does. That goes with his preparation for any Test.

"My aim is to always keep myself calm," he said. "You don't want to play the game before the whistle goes, because that could mean you waste all that nervous energy. So I try to do other things in the lead-up to the game. You think about it, but I try not to dwell on it. It is only about a few hours before the game that I start to switch on and think about what you're going to do, and how you're going to do it."

There's also a bit of analysis on his opposing winger, but again he keeps an open mind.

"I don't want to get bogged down with information. If you think the opposing winger is going to go the outside all the time, you can overcompensate. And then he steps inside you and you can be made to look stupid. On the wing, it is important to take each individual play differently."

What has also succeeded in unclogging Hynes's mind is the approach of the head coach. Wingers love nothing more than being given a blank canvas. Deans provides that.

"He [Deans] give you little pieces of information - in particular suggesting what to do in certain situations," Hynes said. "But he is more interested in rugby instinct. He gives you the framework to allow you to do what you want to do. And the good thing is that from that we are playing a lot more footy - including throwing the ball more than we used to. We're attacking and are not afraid to throw the pass. That's a real positive, and I think the crowds are enjoying it."

Not as much as Hynes though.