The 27-year-old hitman only had to make it through the match to earn the maiden Blues jumper many consider overdue, but he's is confident the knock to the dodgy hip he's carried since round nine won't hamper him come Origin I. 

“It's not too bad, hopefully it's just a little stinger,” de Belin said of the knock that forced him from the field with seven minutes left on Saturday night.

“It was just more scary than anything else, getting a knock on it just when I thought it was coming good, but it doesn't feel as bad as when I initially did it which is good.

“It's in a bit of a weird spot and it feels a bit similar to when you break your ribs, just the wind taken away from you. I kind of had that feeling again but once I managed to walk it off a bit it felt a lot better.

“[Origin's] just right around the corner and nothing's guaranteed so I like to think I was close, if not on the cusp of being there so nothing changes and hopefully it's all good.”

De Belin first suffered the injury in the Dragons round nine win over Melbourne and admits he was a passenger a week later against Souths, but he's confident he'll be fine to play without a pain-killing injection in the series opener at the MCG.

“I was pretty close to playing without a needle [against Penrith] but I didn't want to risk it because I wanted to put a good performance in to stick in the selectors mind,” he said.

“I was tossing up [Saturday] night whether to get a needle or not but there was still a little bit of pain there so I didn't want to risk it.

“It's definitely getting better, I've been able to train as well so it's been really good. It's just one of those things, it's a niggle that hangs around and it gets better week to week.

“At the back end there the needle was wearing off a bit so that's why the pain was a little bit more scary than initially thought.

“I'm no different to everyone else this time of year. We're halfway through the comp so everyone's carrying a few niggles and everyone's feeling a little bit worse for wear so I'm no different to anyone else.” 

There were as many as 12 Blues hopefuls in action at Panthers Stadium on Saturday night, with the Penrith contingent all putting their hand up in the 28-2 win.

It was a tough night for the Dragons but, having gone 9-3 to start the season, de Belin was hopeful the result wouldn't count against his side at the selection table.

“We've played 12 rounds now so it'd be silly to pick a team off one game the week going into Origin,” de Belin said.

“The work's already been done, we've done everything we can to play Origin and all of us have said  we want to play.

“It was one of those games, we were both one and two and the powerhouse sides at the moment, and they obviously wanted it a bit more than us.

"Credit to them they turned up, it was a bit of an arm-wrestle game and they came over the top of us in the end. It's obviously up to Freddie and the selectors but, if we do get selected, it would be a great honour.”