OPINION: So much for Queenslanders and their 'loyalty'

Queenslanders are only content to be loyal while they are winning.

It's not loyalty when you get to pick some of the best players in the world. Picture: DAVE HUNT

SO much for the legendary Queensland loyalty I'm accustomed to hearing about.

One loss at Suncorp Stadium and the Maroons supporters were almost passing out in shock and calling for more changes than you can poke a stick at.

Longtime players such as Nate Myles and Jacob Lillyman were dismissed as needing to be immediately sacked, with some wanting to kick Sam Thaiday to the curb and many calling for the head of coach Kevin Walters.

Never mind that he won the series last year and probably felt he was doing what the state wanted in holding on to longterm players out of that Queensland sense of "loyalty".

Turns out Queenslanders don't care about being loyal.

They only care about winning.

I hate to think how Queenslanders would feel if the shoe had been on the other foot for the past 12 years.

As an ardent New South Wales fan, I have shed many, many tears as the Queenslander won series after series.

In 2014 it seemed like the tide was turning, but sadly it was just a short reprieve from more Queensland dominance.

Now the Blues have had the audacity to not just win a game, but win it well, and at Suncorp Stadium no less - and the Maroons supporters are acting like it's end times.

You'll have to forgive me if I don't have much sympathy for you.

And you'll have to really forgive me if I now laugh and roll my eyes at the notion of this innate sense of loyalty the Maroons supposedly have.

Yes, there has to be a changing of the guard eventually.

Sure, sometimes the Queensland team more closely resembles an old age home than a rugby league side.

After all, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith are about 80 in rugby league years.

And the side has stuck with the same players for a long time.

But it has to be remembered, this team, as much as it genuinely grieves me to say it, has done the job for Queensland for more than a decade.

If your trademark is loyalty then it seems callous to toss aside players you deem past their use by date after they have given their all to the cause for more than a decade.

Surely there needs to be a bit of dignity for the players who have helped build a dynasty rather than a casual parting of ways once the Maroon crowd feels they need to be put out to pasture.

I never thought I'd find myself feeling sorry for Queensland players until I read the comments of some of their so-called fans.

Talk to me when you've lost nine in a row and yet you still believe a miracle can happen, as I have every year.

It may be that a new look Queensland team will take to the field in a little over two weeks' time.

A new era is inevitable and Queensland will have to rebuild. Such is life.

But Maroon supporters should remember three things:

1. You're going to lose sometimes. That is the nature of competition. There can't be much of a spectacle without real contest. New South Wales was better than you on Wednesday night. Deal with it.

2. You've had more than a decade of watching truly outstanding players take to the park representing your state and they gave you more than a decade of wins, bar the result in 2014. Be grateful.

3. If you want to be known for loyalty, you have to be loyal when it counts, not just when it's convenient. Saying you're being loyal when you pick Cronk, Smith, Inglis et al  is laughable - who else would you pick when you're selecting some of the best players in the world?