Greats praise 'honorary Queenslander' Hayne
JARRYD HAYNE is the only NSW player who would come close to getting a start for Queensland, say Maroons greats Chris Close and Billy Moore.
Both declared they would not trade a single Maroon for any member of the Blues side that suffered a record fourth series defeat, but were unanimous in their respect for Hayne, who they said was the only player who showed a Queenslander-like spirit.
"As far as courage and commitment go, Queensland are spot on," Close said.
"That's the difference between the sides.
"Big Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva, you looked at their beaten bodies and they were saying, 'No', but their hearts were saying, 'Yeah, let's go, boys'. And they just kept going. They dug deep and filled those burning lungs with oxygen and took those extra couple of steps to make those tackles that really counted. And that is so Queensland-like.
"The only bloke on the other side who played with close to that much passion was Jarryd Hayne.
"I thought Michael Weyman and Ben Creagh tried hard, but I wouldn't swap them for any of our blokes - that's for sure.
"Hayne was wonderful all series. He tried his guts out the whole game. He's one of few blokes in that team who played with an Origin spirit. He didn't give up.
"Not many of them, if any, would make the Queensland side. They're probably not even talking to each other this week, that's how fickle they are down there."
Moore, a veteran of 17 Origin matches, was impressed by only two Blues performances — those of Hayne and interchange forward Anthony Watmough.
"But I wouldn't want any of them playing for Queensland, I'd say no to all of them," Moore said.
"The Blues looked terrible, they looked lost. Watmough was quite good, but you wouldn't trade him for our blokes.
"But if you had to choose one I think Jarryd Hayne. Hayne's a freak. He's one of those players who has the ability to do something magical and he always senses what's going to happen and puts himself in the right spot. He was by far their best player.
