State of Origin Game 3 brawl: Queensland Maroons’ plan to attack Matt Burton revealed
The Maroons have revealed they put a target on Matt Burton’s back in Origin’s decisive game three. Find out how Queensland went about quelling one of NSW’s key threats.
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Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans has revealed the Maroons devised a game plan to deliberately bash Blues centre Matt Burton in the Origin decider.
And the Maroons number one bully boy Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has declared he was willing “to do whatever it takes” to dish out the punishment.
“That’s what got us the win. We all had each other’s back and we were willing to do whatever,’’ Fa’asuamaleaui said.
“It’s about boys playing hard football and willing to do anything for their mates.”
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Burton terrorised Queensland in Perth with his towering kicks, but from the opening minutes of Origin III, the Blues ace was on the receiving end of a series of Maroons missiles.
Fa’asuamaleaui was given a mission of rattling Burton at every opportunity and didn’t miss.
Up to five Maroons tried to hammer Burton on his first hit-up in the third minute and Fa’asuamaleaui collected him with a swinging arm.
The Maroons enforcer said he feared he would be sin-binned for the shot.
“I was a little bit (nervous), because obviously I didn’t mean it but he fell into it,’’ Fa’asuamaleaui said.
“It’s State of Origin. You don’t mean to do things. it’s a tough arena.’’
Then, when Burton knocked over Kalyn Ponga in the second half, Maroons rival Dane Gagai went for the jugular, unleashing a volley of punches which saw the pair sin-binned.
When Burton was emerging from the sin-bin, Fa’asuamaleaui had to be held back by teammates as he sprayed the Blues rookie when he re-entered the field.
The Queenslanders clearly had a plan to rough-up Burton and Cherry-Evans confirmed the Maroons had a strategy to shake him up.
“Anyone who plays well during the series, if you have a good coaching staff, you will identify the threats and try and limit them,” he said.
“Matt Burton played really well in Game Two, so we had to limit his impact and we did that really well.
“We drew a line in the sand on where we felt the series was going if we didn’t stop certain things.
“Once we drew that line in the sand, and we knew what we were playing for and why we were doing it, this team doesn’t look back when we get instructions.
“It’s a very coachable team. All 17 of us bought into the game plan.”
Maroons hooker Ben Hunt said Queensland needed to get more physical after being outmuscled in their 44-12 loss in Perth.
“It was definitely the plan,” Hunt said.
“We thought we got dominated pretty badly in Perth, they were more physical than us and did a job on us, so we worked hard and talked all week that we wanted to come out and be very physical and as a team we did that.”
WHAT SPARKED ORIGIN’S WILD GAME 3 BRAWL
Joel Gould and David Riccio
‘F*** it. It’s Origin.’
That’s how Maroons centre Dane Gagai explained his mindset during a series of haymakers with Blues counterpart Matt Burton that saw them both sin-binned in the Maroons stunning 22-12 win in an explosive State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium.
Gagai also said that Blues playmaker Jarome Luai would come to regret the controversial grandstanding and spray that he gave a severely concussed Selwyn Cobbo as he was laying in a clearly distressed situation on the ground in the opening exchanges.
Gagai explained what triggered him in the lead-up to the Burton set-to in the second half.
“That was just looking after your mate. I’d seen him run over the top of KP [Kalyn Ponga] and I wasn’t going to let it slide,” Gagai said.
Stream the FOX LEAGUE State of Origin Game 3 REPLAY on Kayo with no ads during-play. Both full and condensed replays available to stream.. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
He wasn’t going to let me try and bully him like that. It is footy. It is Origin. I have no hard feelings against him.
“I’ve had a few run-ins with him outside of footy and he seems like a good bloke. My dad has always taught me that anything that happens on the field stays on the field.
“If it goes the other way and one of their big boys bashed me then I wouldn’t have a sour feeling towards them, because they would just be sticking up for their mate.”
In this day and age the punch is not in vogue or tolerated like it was in previous decades. Was that thought going through Gagai’s mind?
“Nah. I probably just said,’ F*** it. It’s Origin’. It is standing up for your mate and for yourself. I ran in and gave him a bit if a shove after he ran over KP. He stood up for himself, like you should do. Then it was just on after that.”
Meanwhile, Gagai said he didn’t see Luai flexing his muscles and standing over Queensland’s Cobbo after he was knocked out cold accidentally by his own teammate Pat Carrigan’s hip in the second minute.
In 2020, Maroons forward Jai Arrow copped plenty of flak when he tried to lift a concussed James Tedesco from the ground, unaware that he was so badly injured. Luai didn’t have that excuse. While suspecting Luai had crossed “a line”, Gagai said other NSW players were looking out for the Maroons winger.
“At the end of the day a few NSW boys were taking his mouth guard out,” Gagai said.
“As passionate and aggressive as both teams are, there was still a duty of care. That is someone’s son. That is someone’s grandson. To see those Blues players show that care, that’s what it is about.
“There is a line you don’t cross. If Luai had his time again, he might not have said what he said. That is what this game brings out in you. A couple of years back Jai Arrow was scrutinised for what he did to [James] Tedesco. I know speaking to Jai he wishes he had his time back. As soon as he did it he realised he f***** up. It is just passion and heat of the moment. I know Luai. He is a good man away from the field.”
Gagai was shielding Cobbo from the melee after he went to ground.
“As soon as he went into that tackle I knew straight away it was bad. He was locked up and there were bodies all around. It was just looking after your mate. He would probably do the same for me.”
While he was in the sin bin Gagai said he never had any doubts his teammates would prevail.
“Even though I got sent I knew they weren’t going to let me down,” Gagai said.
“When I came back out I had a job to do. I thought the boys were outstanding, especially the debutants. They showed a lot of courage. Tommy Dearden took the line on and had a lot of good touches and he was unreal. I couldn’t be more proud to be a Queenslander.”
Sporting a swollen cheekbone, Blues centre Matt Burton went toe-to-toe with Gagai before both players were sin-binned for brawling in the second-half.
“What happens on the field, stays on the field and we’ll just leave it at that,’’ Burton said.
Asked if he was worried that he was outnumbered by the Maroons during the melee, Burton replied: “You definitely don’t want to get sent-off, it obviously affects the team.
“The ref controls the game and that’s his decision.’’
Burton said his swollen face was from a first-half high shot from QLD forward Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
The Bulldogs star ruled out the possibility of a fracture.
“I did get a bit of a high one there. “It’s definitely not fractured, it’s only a little bump,’’ Burton said.
“There was a lot of aggression and it was a lot faster (than game two) out there, so it was obviously disappointing to not get the result.’’
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