After the giddy sky blue celebration of Wednesday night, Dragons fans can enjoy hearing captain Gareth Widdop will return in a couple of weeks. He has a footy in hand, training and is a handful of strength sessions away from an all-clear.

And will come in at five-eighth too.

The questions will remain whether Corey Norman or Matt Dufty start on the bench when Widdop plays again, with Cameron McInnes likely to play some minutes at lock and Ben Hunt at hooker in a dummy-half, tag-team arrangement.

And how St George Illawarra deal with the pressure of needing to win at least six, probably seven of their last nine, with Widdop and James Graham, as well as their State of Origin talent returning.

The magical, though ultimately futile revival against Brisbane in last year's elimination final needs to happen in the next month, not September.

READ MORE: Widdop ready to boost St George Illawarra's finals hopes with return imminent

Phil Gould's words were ringing in the ears when Mitchell Pearce went hunting on the right edge.

NSW had thrown an intercept in how many consecutive State of Origin games? Five! The commentary made it sound inevitable it would happen again.

So here's Pearce, the most maligned player in Origin history, searching for a game and series winner with the clock ticking away.

In the situations where recent history shows the Blues bottle every, single time.

Was he about to go full Brett Kimmorley here?

And then, that pass.

What a thing of beauty.

Queensland's defence had been rushing NSW all night with great effect and Pearce went early after Cameron Murray had given him breathing space through the middle.

It floated into the arms of Tommy Turbo and on to Ferguson, a bloke who should have had his cards marked "NEVER, EVER AGAIN" after the Lennox Point Hotel antics before the failed 2017 decider.

The rest is now one of the great chapters in NSW history.

We did it, we finally did it, when it was on the line.

A great collective exhale south of the border, the best part of 12 years of misery washing away as James Tedesco crashed over in the corner.

Pearce was a steady hand without being brilliant, but you don't need to be when Tedesco and Trbjovic, as well as the unsung heroes like Murray and Paul Vaughan get the job done around you.

If that pass had come from Johnathan Thurston, or Andrew Johns, or Brad Fittler, it would have been thought of as a moment of genius, vision and class.

And so it should for Pearce, taunted by NSW fans and Queensland players throughout the Maroons' golden era.

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