Sky Blues five-eighth Kirra Dibb made an unforgettable return to Women's State of Origin, with her pivotal performance in the halves alongside Rachael Pearson guiding NSW to a 20-14 victory over Queensland on Friday night.
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Dibb was one of the standouts in front of a record women's Origin crowd of 11,321 at Canberra Stadium.
After two years without NSW representative honours, the 24-year-old made the most of her opportunity, scoring a sensational solo-effort try, making four tackle breaks and 118 kicking metres.
"Winning Origin is the greatest feeling ever," Dibb said post-game with an ear-to-ear grin, before quickly vowing to retain the No.6 Sky Blues jersey moving forward.
"Missing out for those couple of years was really hard. The second you take this jersey off, all of your work goes into getting it back on.
"It's been taken from me before so I'm definitely not going to get complacent or think that it's just mine now.
"I'm still going to work every day to make sure that next year I give them no choice but to select me."
Dibb and Pearson's new halves combination was a highlight of the series. At halfback Pearson perfectly complemented Dibb's game, and contributed a handy 2/3 conversions and 2/2 penalty goals for NSW.
The Sky Blues five-eighth said from the very first Origin training session with Pearson it was clear the pair was onto something special.
"It was a little scary at the beginning. You're like, 'Is it really this good'? But Rachael and I were able to connect really well," Dibb said.
"Playing with Rachael was incredible. Having kicking games on both sides gave us a lot of confidence regardless of where we went.
"Hopefully it's it's a combo that can grow in the future."
NSW coach Kylie Hilder was blown away by how both players directed the attack in such a fast-paced, high-intensity encounter.
"Her and Rachael combining at six and seven was unbelievable," Hilder said.
"That's what we need at this level and I'm so happy for Kirra actually - to score a try and play the way she did."
Hilder said player-of-the-match Isabelle Kelly was also impressed early on with Dibb and Pearson's potential.
"Issy is the biggest critic of halves, and from day one she said Kirra was so good," Hilder said.
Kelly believed it was that chemistry that helped guide the team to defeat the Maroons in a thrilling final 15 minutes that saw both sides threaten to steal the win.
"Kirra did so well," Kelly said of Dibb.
"Having her as my half was unreal from the get-go when we started training. She stayed really composed and then we just played off her."
Dibb credited the growth in her maturity since her previous cap in the NSW jersey in 2019 for helping her recall.
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Hilder agreed and revealed conversations with Dibb over the last two years convinced the coach she was ready to return.
"She was always reaching out and asking what she needed to do to get back into this side and I was always very honest and open," Hilder said.
"She wants to be that team player now and it showed [on Friday night]."
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