But on Saturday the 28-year-old centre will step out for Huddersfield Giants knowing he will not only be watched by 80,000 fans at the national stadium, but by millions of TV viewers in the UK and back home in Australia.

The New Zealand star has been inundated with messages and phone calls from family friends in Sydney as a final between two teams with a strong Australian flavour – including both coaches – has caught the imagination Down Under.

Click the green PLAY button to watch a video interview as the Giants prepare for Wembley >>

With the game being screened on terrestrial television back home on Saturday night, Lolesi knows he will be the entertainment for several late night parties.

He said: "I have got my family coming over, my agent, too, and have had over 100 emails from friends and family, past players, phone calls from Willie Mason (Sydney Roosters and Australia prop) and Benji Marshall (Wests Tigers and New Zealand half-back) wishing us all the best and saying they will be watching on TV.

"A few of the boys are going to be making a night of it, it's on at 11.30 at night back home in Sydney. It's free-to-air so it's going to be a pretty big event back in Australia. A lot of family will be watching, hoping for a Huddersfield win.

"The Challenge Cup is popular with rugby league fans in Australia, but with the game free-to-air, 11.30 on a Saturday night, you will get everyone in the pub watching, I can tell you that now.

"There's a lot of players that Australians will know and I think this will do the world of good for English rugby league back in Australia."

One player not involved is Danny Kirmond, the Giants youngster cruelly missing out after suffering knee ligament damage in last weekend's narrow defeat to St Helens in engage Super League.

"I know what Danny is going through – I broke my ankle two weeks before a Grand Final in Australia and it is devastating," said Lolesi, who earlier this season signed a new two-year contract to stay at Huddersfield until 2011.

"I sent him a message earlier this week – he was in hospital so I couldn't get hold of him – but he will bounce back.

"He is a young player and he is at a club that I think is going places in the next two or three years. He will be one of those players that will be a foundation player at this club and he will get another chance.

"I told him to keep his chin up, and he will come back bigger and stronger."

Lolesi has struggled with injuries this season, stress fractures in his foot meaning he employs a support boot during lay-offs between matches to help support the recovery.

"The boot is just a precaution," said Lolesi, who joined Huddersfield in 2007 from NRL club Wests Tigers.

"Obviously I had stress fractures in my foot six weeks ago and they haven't properly healed yet but I am happy to get through games.

"We have been managing it, taking the boot on and off. It's a little bit annoying, but it's all about maintenance and trying to get our hands on the Challenge Cup."

With 11 first-team players rested or nursing injury niggles against Saints, Lolesi said the onlooking senior players had been left "inspired" by how a virtual Huddersfield reserve team – including teenagers like Elliot Hodgson making his debut at full-back – had nearly conjured a win before losing 12-10.

"The young guys who came in and played against Saints were inspiring," he said. "The 11 players that sat out were so inspired by what the younger boys did it kind of rubbed off on us.

"It probably did us the world of good watching the young blokes do that. To show the effort, determination and grit to hang in there against a world champion side was phenomenal. We take our hats off to them.

"I have never been to Wembley, I watched the Community Shield between Manchester United and Chelsea.

"I thought to myself 'I will be playing there in two weeks' and got goosebumps.

"I am a big football fan. I like Chelsea, I met Frank Lampard when I came over in 2004. He signed an autograph for me and I got a photo so have followed him ever since then."

One group of fans in the stands at Wembley will be 'Team Robbo' – Luke Robinson's own personal fan club.

Huddersfield scrum-half Robinson has been followed around Super League this season by a group of brightly-clad young women including his fiancée Laura.

Wearing yellow T-shirts and making plenty of noise, they have certainly been grabbing the full attention of the opposition fans.

And the gang will be at Wembley on Saturday – attired in their new Challenge Cup final shirts – after they were forced to miss the semi-final because of a holiday to Australia.

"The lads give me a bit of stick about this but it's all good fun," said Robinson.

"Laura got all her mates involved and they just seem to have a good time and get on the beer.

"There's about 10 of them now and they just come and sing and shout."