The Highlanders prop is back on deck with the All Blacks as they seek to revive their Rugby Championship campaign with victory in back-to-back-tests against the Wallabies.
De Groot has not been seen in the black jersey since he left the field in his 26th test appearance against the Pumas in Wellington on August 10.
A niggling neck injury forced him to miss the trip to South Africa.
While Tamaiti Williams impressed in his absence, the burly Southlander will presumably be whistled straight back into the front row for the test against the wobbly Wallabies.
"I’m excited to get back into camp with the boys and head over to Sydney", de Groot said.
"I’m looking forward to it."
He said the neck twinge was no longer causing him any concern.
"Yeah, the neck’s feeling really good. The strength in my arm has come back really well, and I’m just ready to hook into it."
There was, of course, one significant consolation to de Groot’s time on the international sidelines.
He was able to make a rare appearance for his beloved Stags in front of a bumper crowd at Rugby Park on Friday night to regain some match fitness.
He relished the opportunity to wear maroon again for the first time in four years when he got 50 minutes against Canterbury.
"I loved it. Loved it down home for a wee bit there.
"It wasn’t in the plans to play for Southland this year. Normally it’s if you’ve done something wrong or you’ve got an injury.
"But it was good to get down there, especially a home game in front of all the Southland fans. I really enjoyed it."
A bunch of other members of the All Blacks squad have also headed over to join the troops in Sydney.
Harry Plummer, David Havili, Ruben Love and Billy Proctor are on the plane after getting some NPC action at the weekend, while experienced lock Patrick Tuipolotu is also back after getting through 60 minutes for Auckland on his return from injury.
Assistant coach Jason Ryan said the All Blacks felt refreshed after a week off and ready to bounce back from consecutive losses in South Africa.
"We’ve obviously looked pretty hard at ourselves and looked at areas we need to improve", Ryan said.
"It was a big two weeks in South Africa against the best team in the world, and we’ve got some experiences that we’ve learnt from around different pressure cycles and areas of our game.
"We’re excited by how hard we pushed South Africa but we’re not satisfied by not getting across the line.
"You naturally look harder at yourselves, and that’s what we’ve done.
"Let’s not sugar-coat it - we’ve lost a couple of tests in a row. But we’re optimistic about where we’re heading."
While the Wallabies lost both home tests against the Springboks, and are coming off a humiliation by the Pumas, Ryan is wary of the influence of coach Joe Schmidt, the former Irish coach and All Blacks assistant.
"I think they’ll want to play fast.
"Joe puts a lot of work into the breakdown side of things, and I think he’s had a good influence on their side already."
