Maroons to leave whining to Blues

QUEENSLAND Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher says the Maroons won’t emulate the “whingeing” Blues by seeking crisis talks with officials in the lead-up to Origin III.

There is a view NSW coach Brad Fittler won a battle of mind games over Queensland counterpart Billy Slater after holding a meeting with NRL referees boss Jared Maxwell following the Blues’ 16-10 loss in Game One.

Fittler made it clear to Maxwell he was unimpressed with Queensland’s tactic of slowing the ruck in Origin I, turning up the heat on referee Ashley Klein ahead of his reappointment for Origin II.

The Blues subsequently hit back with a 44-12 rout and Klein raised eyebrows with several calls that went against Queensland, notably the sinbinning of Felise Kaufusi which triggered a NSW tryscoring avalanche.

The NRL match review committee then came under fire for clearing NSW duo Nathan Cleary and Stephen Crichton of acts of foul play which left key Maroons Kalyn Ponga (head knock) and Cameron Munster (shoulder) needing medical attention.

But ahead of the death-or-glory decider at Suncorp Stadium on July 13, Hatcher said the Maroons won’t try to manipulate NRL powerbrokers as they look to clinch the Origin shield on their terms.

“We aren’t going to be whingers,” he said.

“There’s no need to panic, so I can’t imagine us or Billy (Slater) will be firing off any protests to the NRL.

“We want no excuses for the decider.

“Overall, there was nothing in those incidents (involving Cleary and Crichton) that struck me as exceptional. I didn’t notice anything exceptional in that game that has created cause for concern.

“I have seen many Queensland sides overcome adversity and I believe this team is capable of doing that.”

While Fittler wasn’t a fan of Klein’s performance in Origin I, Hatcher said the QRL would not oppose the 42-year-old’s appointment for the decider.

“We don’t have any issues with the referee,” he said.

“We were well and truly in the game until we were left a man short (following Kaufusi’s sin-binning), but I suggest we should focus on the things we did wrong and there are many areas we can improve.

“On the night, we weren’t the better side.

“I don’t like the idea of either state running around saying, ‘We don’t like this referee, we want another one’.

“The inference is that you want a referee that favours your side and I am happy for the NRL to appoint the match officials independently without pressure.

“I’d like ‘Grasshopper’ (legendary Queensland referee Barry Gomersall) back, but on balance the referee (Klein) didn’t make a great difference to that game.”