He may have been the sixth centre in line to play for NSW this State of Origin series but the selection of Bradman Best was emphatically vindicated in the Blues' triumph on Wednesday night.
Coach Brad Fittler faced immediate questions for naming the Newcastle centre for the series finale in Sydney, where the Blues were fighting against the odds to avoid a rare series whitewash.
The likes of Izack Tago, Will Penisini, Matt Burton and Kotoni Staggs were all overlooked in favour of the uncapped 21-year-old, whose Knights have been languishing in the bottom half of the table for the past two seasons.
NSW staff prickled at suggestions Best had only been picked for scoring a hat-trick against Canterbury on the day before teams were named, with assistant Greg Alexander calling that line of thinking "disrespectful" when the selection call faced criticism.
But Best and Fittler stuck it to their detractors when the centre crossed for two tries on debut in the Blues' 24-10 defeat of Queensland.
Fittler, who coached Best in the NSW under-16s team in 2017, never doubted the centre had the class to make it on the Origin stage.
"He's always had that. I think everyone's seen that for a long time," he said.
"He's at a club that hasn't done well for a long time. It's now up to him to take it to that next level and be good every week.
"To see him score those tries, it's wonderful.
"Those fans, once they absorbed the fact he was playing, they were excited, so for him to go out there and score a few tries was exciting."
Best became NSW's sixth centre of the series; Latrell Mitchell was named but failed to play due to injury.
Stephen Crichton and Tom Trbojevic both lined up in the series opener before the latter went down with a head knock, forcing Nicho Hynes into the role.
Another injury to Trbojevic in game two forced Damien Cook to become an ad hoc centre, before Best earned his call-up for game three.
While Queensland have earned plaudits for their "pick-and-stick" approach to selection, Fittler argued the modern Origin arena demanded changes from game-to-game.
In total, the Blues used 28 players throughout the series, the most since the 2010 whitewash campaign, with a handful of those who missed selection in game three turning out to watch from the stands on Wednesday night.
"At the end of the day, you need to go now with 30 players. 17 or 18 just doesn't cut it with the amount of injuries and the things that go on throughout the year," Fittler said.
"If our players that didn't play in this game are happy to turn up and support, then all of a sudden you become a lot stronger outfit."
