Tom Robertson and NSW Country Eagles to clash with Western Force in NRC clash in Port Macquarie

Instead, he was frantically trying to turn his phone off flight mode so he could watch the game as he walked through Brisbane Airport with the NSW Country Eagles.

This week he'll again be watching the Wallabies from afar - likely to be on a big screen in Port Macquarie - after the Eagles clash with Western Force on Sunday afternoon.

Serious knee and ankle injuries over the last year appeared to scupper any plans Robertson had of adding to his 24 Wallaby caps at the World Cup.

"It's been a tough 12 months," Robertson said.

"I had a knee reconstruction at the end of last year, then came back and played seven games for the Waratahs and had surgery on my ankle, so haven't really played much."

The 25-year-old prop admitted he took things for granted after having a saloon passage with injury for the first three years of his career.

"I had nothing too serious, then had the knee and then the ankle and you do start to doubt yourself a little bit," he said.

Robertson is back in the mix for Wallabies selection after making his comeback from the ankle injury in the Eagles' 24-19 loss in Brisbane last weekend.

He will run out for the Eagles against the Western Force at Regional Stadium as they aim to end the Force's undefeated start to the 2019 NRC competition.

"I played 45 minutes last week and it was alright; the lungs were pretty sore, but it's good to get out there and have fun with the boys," he said.

"Hopefully now I've got that first game under my belt it'll serve me well for the weekend and get me back to some good form."

He still harbours ambitions of playing a role in the World Cup.

"It's a big year for the Wallabies so I'm hoping to have some good form in the NRC and then if there's an injury over in Japan hopefully I'll get the call-up and head over," he said.

"You've got to wait around and see what happens because as everyone knows the World Cup is the third-biggest sporting event in the world.

"Everyone wants to be a part of it."

When asked whether being on the fringe of selection was seen as a positive or whether it was frustrating to be so close, the 107-kilogram giant saw the glass as being half full.

"It depends how you look at it," he said.

"I tend to look at it as a positive because when we were in South Africa this year they took six props over and three of them got injured."

Robertson said Sunday's clash with the Force would be another stepping stone to rejoining the Wallabies as both sides had strong Super Rugby representation.

"The Force don't really have many deficiencies," he said.

"They're pretty solid right across the park and I've played with quite a lot of their guys in Super Rugby and against them and you can't really fault them."

Kick-off is 3pm before a big screen will be set up showing the Wallabies clash with Wales on the warm-up field.

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