There's a very good reason why NSW captain Paul Gallen turned his back and led his players to the corner of the field while Queensland counterpart Cameron Smith was delivering his post-match speech.
"I thought it was disrespectful what they did," said Maroons five-eighth Johnathan Thurston.
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NSW turn backs on Cameron Smith
Queensland have labelled NSW players disrespectful after they walked away during Cameron Smith's post-match speech.
Disrespectful? A handful of NSW players this column spoke to report the Queenslanders went far beyond the normal trash talk during the match.
The Blues have been widely condemned as "bad winners" but the lack of respect from the Maroons during the game is the reason why their captain was shown no respect after it.
We've been asked not to repeat the sledges word for word because what happens on the field stays on the field.
But let's just say the Blues were livid about some of the Maroons' senior players blowtorching Gallen in his final match about his "Origin legacy".
The Queenslanders – a "humble group of guys", according to Smith after the game – also laboured the point about how many series they had won in the past decade and how many NSW had not.
As anyone who watched the match will recall, there was some enthusiastic tongue-fu going on between Maroons veteran Corey Parker – also playing his last Origin – and the young bulls of the NSW forward pack.
Last crusade: Retiring players Paul Gallen and Corey Parker talk after game three. Photo: Cameron Spencer
Parker roughed up Blues debutant James Tedesco with his forearm late in the match, earning a one-match suspension.
It's also fair to say fellow veteran prop Nate Myles won't be invited to the Blues' Christmas party this year.
For these reasons, Gallen decided to turn his back on Smith while he was speaking during the post-match presentation. Actually, he turned his back at the precise moment Smith was praising Gallen for his Origin career.
Some Blues staffers were insisting on Thursday morning the Maroons players had snubbed Gallen when he was hoisting the shield at Suncorp Stadium at the end of the 2014 series.
We checked the footage: the Queensland players were standing by the side of the stage as Gallen spoke, and some clapped.
No get-square: Contrary to the claims of some Blues staffers, Queensland players can clearly be seen applauding Paul Gallen as he lifts the shield at Suncorp Stadium in 2014. Photo: Channel Nine
As much as they will all deny it publicly, there has been simmering tension in Kangaroos camps for years, with Blues players often feeling like their Maroons teammates regularly rub their nose in their Origin success.
It should be interesting when the Australian squad comes together for the Four Nations tour of England in October and November. Good luck with that one, Mal Meninga.
The Fun Police will decry all this fear and loathing as setting a poor example for the kiddies but in reality … IT'S ABSOLUTELY FREAKING SUPERB!
NSW is back! Origin is back! The hate is back!
We can't have The Fight any longer but we've got The Snub. Imagine the build-up to game one in Brisvegas next year.
NSW big fella Andrew Fifita is not my type of player – but he's fun to watch. He had no qualms about racing 45 metres to grab Gavin Cooper's head after the Queensland forward had thrown a ball at the head of fullback Matt Moylan after scoring a try.
Outnumbered: Andrew Fifita takes on most of the Maroons side. Photo: Cameron Spencer
"Fifita tried to take my head off and put it in a shopping basket," Cooper said.
While his teammates were privately angry about Fifita's brain snap because he was sin-binned at a critical time, Fifita said he'd do it again because Moylan is one of his best mates.
You have to respect that.
Miracle moment missed
NSW coach Laurie Daley missed the Michael Jennings miracle try in the final minute that delivered the 18-14 win. He was in the ANZ Stadium tunnel, he said, having made his way down from the coach's box.
He said in the post-match media conference: "I thought, I'll drop my pad into the booth, and as I walked out the door I heard this roar."
Blues insiders revealed he was dropping off something: he was in the toilet.
Norman conquests costly
Earlier this year, Corey Norman's management company was asking some clubs if they wanted to pay the talented playmaker as much as $1.2 million … a season.
After this week, following revelations he allegedly copped cash in brown-paper bags, became involved in a sex-and-drug-tape scandal and then pleaded guilty in court to drug possession, he will be lucky to get the ".2".
Whatever sanctions the Eels throw at Norman, the blow will be bizarrely softened because the sex tape in question is so explicit and the $150,000 asking price so high that it will never see the light of day.
According to those who have seen the tape, both Norman and former housemate James Segeyaro knew they were being filmed.
Earlier this year, Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce was stood down for two months for a video he didn't know he was starring in. Norman might argue he has a right to privacy, but he showed how much he respected "privacy" by circulating the footage of a man snorting a white substance to teammates. Parramatta and NRL officials remain uncertain if the explicit video of Norman and a woman was also sent to teammates.
Eels coach Brad Arthur wanted to play Norman against the Panthers on Saturday. There was no way the NRL was going to allow that to happen.
Hayne's season in doubt
There's no guarantee that Jarryd Hayne will be playing in the NRL next season, let alone the remainder of this one at Parramatta.
Not our words but that of his closest mates at the Eels, who aren't so sure Hayne will be rushing backing any time soon. The Hayne haters have been climbing into the code-hopping superstar since Monday when he revealed he had missed out on selection for Fiji at the Rio Olympics.
Lifetime commitment: Jarryd Hayne. Photo: Getty Images
Time beat him more than his fitness. We're told his body has changed dramatically in the past month. Returning to rugby league will be no issue.
If and when he does come back, Eels fans might remind him of the second-last sentence of his signed statement on the club's website on October 15, 2014.
Hayne wrote: "I'm leaving knowing that I have signed a 'lifetime agreement' with the Eels, so if I return to the NRL, it will be to Parramatta."
Baird's hero complex
Good morning to NSW Premier Mike Baird, who went on holiday a day after bringing the greyhound industry to a grinding halt, leaving thousands of people without a job.
It's understood Baird has been taking leave on the Gold Coast and staying in the same hotel as country-pop star Taylor Swift.
Like Reverend Lovejoy preaching from the pulpit, Baird is slowly saving the heathens of NSW from themselves.
Like most politicians when it comes to sport – cue footage of "the darkest day in Australian sport" press conference – the decision to close down the dish lickers without genuine consultation with the little people with most at stake leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Nobody condones animal cruelty, but as one of Baird's parliamentary colleague puts it: "He's got a hero complex".
Farewell to Brad
One of the greats of rugby league journalism punches out for the last time on Friday. Brad Walter is leaving the Fairfax Media building, taking with him an ocean of rugby league knowledge.
Thankfully, there's a treasure trove of memories to dip into whenever required.
Like the first time I saw him.
It was a Friday-night game at Marathon Stadium in Newcastle during the mid-1990s. Brad was wearing a Western Reds tie and had a moustache that made him look like the twin of dual-international Kurt Sherlock.
Brad Walter in his playing days.
Then there was the night at Suncorp Stadium during an Origin match when he punched the glass window of the press box when he couldn't send his story on full time because of technical issues. It remains, without question, the highlight of my career. "My hand hurts for some reason," he said at the pub hours later.
On a serious note, he's one of the most passionate men I know when it comes to rugby league, newspapers and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Go well, brother. And leave the glass alone.
Facebook me at: www.facebook.com/andrewwebsterjournalist
Email: Andrew.webster@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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