The shootout for the future of the Queensland number seven jersey is over.
Tom Dearden, with one of the greatest individual Origin performances in the 45-year history of the interstate battle, has locked up the jersey for as long as he wants it.
Maybe that is an extreme point of view, but certainly, provided his club form doesn't go off the rails, he has multiple cracks at the Origin jumper before any questions are asked.
And the reason is always, forever, going to be pointed to as four simple numbers.
2025.
Dearden, at one stage, looked like he was barely going to have an NRL career.
Of course, for those who followed his journey through pathways at the Brisbane Broncos, it was clear anything but that was going to be the truth.
But still, when he couldn't buy playing time in Brisbane, then went to the Cowboys, and form didn't immediately turn a corner, questions were being asked.
His development in recent seasons has happened at a rate of knots though, and has quickly turned him into one of the NRL's best players.
A number six for the most part, he has become the controlling influence at the Cowboys this year, and now, holds the same level of responsibility at state level.
You'd be hard pressed to suggest he won't be in the mix for the Kangaroos' number seven jersey when the squad and team is picked under a new coach to travel to England for the return of the rugby league Ashes at the end of this year.
Queensland coach Billy Slater described him as one of the best competitors he has ever seen during the post-match press conference.
"Absoluely. I don't think anyone's surprised how Tom Dearden has played in the number seven jersey. Daly Cherry-Evans has been a wonderful halfback and a wonderful captain for this team over a long period of time," Slater said.
"That's the first thing I want to acknowledge.
"But I just felt it was Tom Dearden's time. It's Tom Dearden's time now to step up and rise to that position, and he has done that. He is sitting in there with a couple of medallions around his neck.
"You don't get that because people predict things about you, you get that because you earn them through your actions out on the field.
"He is one of the best competitors I have ever seen play the game. He will give everything for the team. He stepped in last minute a couple of years ago and did a wonderful job in the six jersey.
"He was ready, he has been a part of this squad for many years now and it was his time."
That's stunningly high praise from a man who has played alongside some of the greats of the game both in Melbourne, and at representative level, and has now coached four Origin series.
Remember, Slater was part of the eight straight series wins for Queensland. He played with Cameron Smith. With Johnathan Thurston. With Greg Inglis. With Cooper Cronk.
The list goes on.
The praise for Dearden in the coming weeks will be off the charts, and already New South Wales coach Laruie Daley has compared him to Allan Langer.
"I think he is just a competitor isn't he?" Daley asked on Dearden during his own post-match press conference.
"You have to tackle him. He is a wonderful player. He came in the seven and played some really good football. He is a danger when he has the ball in his hands, so he did a terrific job."
What all that means is that, provided Dearden is in any sort of form next year, Queensland will employ their traditional pick and stick methods to return him to the side.
The move this year to chop captain Cherry-Evans from the team after Game 1 and hand the keys to the side to Dearden was one of the biggest in Origin history.
There is no two ways about it.
Slater has proven himself previously as a fan of the risk, but this topped the lot.
Realisticaly, if it backfired, it had the potential to end his Origin coaching career.
Instead, Slater will be a walk up starter for next year in his current job, where he will work with Dearden as halfback, and Cameron Munster as captain again.
The loser out of the performance is potentially Sam Walker.
Dearden and Walker were likely to have a long-running battle for the Queensland number seven jumper in the coming years, but now that looks a long way from real.
Walker of course has to come back from his ACL injury, but his Origin prospects have taken an enormous hit with the performance of Dearden, who won the Wally Lewis Medal, was named man of the match in Game 3, and kicked for more than 500 metres on his way to scoring two tries and driving a dagger through the heart of New South Wales.
The bottom line is that Dearden has made himself undroppable.
Potentially for good.
And the Blues?
Well, if Wednesday is anything to go by, a new dynasty could be kicking off for the men from north of the Tweed, led by Dearden.
Laurie Daley, if he survives, has a lot to think about.
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