AH, STATE of Origin. Toughest arena in sport. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Sorts the men from the boys. Apparently.
If the bitching and moaning from the other side of the Queensland border is any indication, it has gone disturbingly soft.
Please. Pass them the tissues. Now, wipe the tears . . .
Yesterday, in the aftermath of the most dramatic Origin in years, Maroons players blubbered like never before.
It was all because of the incident everyone was talking about from the dying minutes of their 28-16 loss to NSW at Suncorp Stadium. Blues prop Brett White wasn't cited for the right-hand that sent Queensland's Steve Price to Disneyland, but Trent Waterhouse contested his contrary conduct charge last night for diving in and escaped suspension.
"They hurt one of our brothers and we wanted to hurt them back," said Maroons centre Justin Hodges - forthwith known as NSW Public Enemy No. 1. "We'll get them next year. It's going to be fiery."
Much of their anger centred on Blues prop Justin Poore picking up Price by the collar after he was knocked out.
Greg Inglis, said: "It was a dog act, it won't be forgotten."
Cameron Smith added: "He (Price) could have ended up paralysed or, thinking in the worst terms, you're talking about death."
Here's a suggestion: go down to your nearest hardware store, buy two bags of cement, harden up.
When the Maroons started dishing out the threats after failing to complete a clean sweep, they clearly forgot about recent history. Specifically, they ignored halfback Johnathan Thurston kicking NSW winger David Williams in the face.
Where were the wild-eyed NSW players seeking retribution then? Keeping it respectable at the other end of the field.
Some might suggest that's got more "dog" in it that than two props going toe- to-toe before another rushed in and pounced on the protagonists.
And, presumably, when Smith says he feared Price may have suffered a neck injury, he forgot about the finals last September while playing for Storm against the Broncos.
Back then, he grabbed the head of Queensland "brother" Sam Thaiday and twisted it like the top of a stubbie. Hodges's petulant display as the minutes wound down summed up his man-child qualities.
"We weren't going to win the game, so we just wanted to go up and hurt them," he said yesterday.
That's a park footy mentality. During the game, he performed the classic throat-slitting gesture on several occasions and told the Blues to "watch your back".
Sounds like someone's been watching too much Underbelly.
Smith explained it away like this: "It showed with the way the boys reacted that we're Queenslanders."
You bet.
Who else but bloody Queensland?
Andrew Webster http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,25794179-5006066,00.html