Enough with the whinging
- by: Mal Meninga
- From: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
- May 27, 2012 12:00AM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/weve-heard-enough-whingeing/story-fn6ck6f9-1226367887816
Source: News Limited
I WATCHED the reaction of NSW captain Paul Gallen in the dying moments of State of Origin I, and saw a man almost overcome by a sense of frustration.
In the days since, I have found myself understanding exactly how he felt.
What we witnessed on Wednesday night was a fantastic game of football, fought desperately and bravely by two very talented and committed teams.
But, listening to the commentary about the game over the past few days, you could be forgiven for thinking it consisted of nothing more than one try and one fight.
The reaction to the game in NSW has been extraordinary, but I understand the reasons behind it.
Part of it is born out of the genuine disappointment of losing an Origin match.
The majority of it is based in an orchestrated drive to build passion among NSW fans by fanning the hatred and rivalry between the two teams and the states they represent.
They are trying to portray that they have been victimised and persecuted, so they can conjure up a seething ANZ Stadium when we go down there in a couple of weeks.
It is why the performances of both teams have been put on the backburner down south, with the entire focus centred around one incident.
And it is why no Queenslander will be able to put a foot right in the eyes of the Blues for the next few weeks.
It is a bit like that old joke: If a Queenslander saves a baby from being mauled by a rottweiler in the next few weeks, they will bag him for attacking a beloved family pet.
Instead of people talking about the wonderful performance of our defence - with the only two tries scored against us coming from misjudged kicks - or the big-hearted performances of Nate Myles or Gallen, or the brilliance of Brent Tate or Jarryd Hayne, we are instead bombarded about the "unfairness" of a decision made by people who actually understand the rules.
I thought it was a try.
Ricky Stuart thought it was a try.
The referee, video referee and referees' boss Bill Harrigan all thought it was a try.
Yet some seem to think the ball was jolted from Greg Inglis' grasp by someone standing on a grassy knoll.
NSW can say that, if that try wasn't scored, there was still seven minutes to go and anything could have happened. But it didn't.
The try, based on the existing rules, was a fair try.
I am not saying that I necessarily agree with the rule.
But that is the rule. And under the rules, it was a try.
It seems to have been lost amid all the drama after the game that we did not exactly have everything go our way on the night.
Much has been made of the "momentum changers" in the game.
The Blues feel aggrieved that incidents such as the Michael Jennings sin-binning, or the dangerous tackle penalty on Cooper Cronk, upset their rhythm. That is what they call rugby league. It happens a dozen times a match, in every match, on every weekend.
The only way it can upset your rhythm is if you dwell on it, and let it affect your mental state.
You could argue that having two tries scored against you from kicks is a fair disruption to momentum.
But our guys were able to put it behind them quickly and get back to the job.
Did Queensland have reason to feel aggrieved when Billy Slater was held back off the ball illegally, costing us what looked like being a certain try? Absolutely.
Should action have been taken against Hayne for blatantly punching Johnathan Thurston in the head in one tackle? Certainly.
The fact that nothing was done about these incidents, when a deserved penalty could have given us great momentum, was frustrating.
But our team copped the rough call, and put it behind them.
We didn't panic. We were under pressure but we showed a lot of patience and composure and just worked on getting back into the arm-wrestle.
I thought our performance at the back end of both halves, after having had to absorb so much pressure, was extraordinary. But you haven't heard too much about those things because a lot of people have spent an enormous amount of energy arguing about a rule they don't understand, trying to "rectify" a decision that cannot be changed.
It's a shame. It is frustrating. A good game of footy was won by the poise and composure of one of the greatest teams to have ever played.
We'll leave the looking back to the Blues. We're busy looking forward to the next two games.
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In other words, pull your heads in you sooky cats, we are going to smash you up next game and your going to have to live with another year of humiliation.
And the way you fu%ken sooks carry on, you deserve it, each cry and whine you have is just fuelling our fire to make it more painful for you. :lol:
