Todd Greenberg says man-of-series votes won’t be released despite controversial Billy Slater decision
DARREN Lockyer says not one NSW player got close to Billy Slater in State of Origin man of the series voting, despite the Wally Lewis Medallist coming from a losing team and not even playing game one. VOTE IN OUR POLL
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DARREN Lockyer says not one NSW player got close to Billy Slater in State of Origin man of the series voting, despite the Wally Lewis Medallist coming from a losing team and not even playing game one.
Australian selectors defended their selection of Slater as the series’ best player, with Lockyer going as far to declare the Queenslander “was way out in front of anyone else”.
Australian selectors Lockyer, Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga feared a public backlash and even discussed altering their choice given Slater had only played two of the three Origin games in a beaten Queensland team.
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It is understood Blues player including Damien Cook, Boyd Cordner, James Tedesco and Tom Trbojevic were the best polled for the winning side.
NRL boss Todd Greenberg conceded that the voting system would now be reviewed while NSWRL CEO David Trodden has called for a “a system that has a discretionary component at the end”.
But Lockyer was adamant the result was clear.
“In the two games he played, Billy polled very highly,” Lockyer said.
“The margin with Billy was quite significant between first and second. Billy was way out in front of anyone else.”
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Lockyer said the group had considered Slater’s absence from the opening match of the series.
“It’s not like we came to that decision at the drop of a hat,” he said.
“We had to decide as a group, based on the fact he only played two games, and he was in a losing series, whether the margin was enough to warrant him being man of the series.
“In the end, we decided we were comfortable with it and we had to stand by our decision. We had to make a judgment call on the fact he only played two games.
“At the same time, I think we all knew it wouldn’t be something that would be accepted by everyone, for sure. We followed the process and came up with an outcome.”
A clearly agitated Meninga took the criticism personally.
“The thing that upsets me is the questioning of our integrity. I feel frustrated and angry about it — questioning our ability to read a game and be impartial,” Meninga said.
“What are they thinking? Are they thinking we are biased? That we don’t know what we’re doing?
“Why are they questioning us? Three knowledgeable people. Billy was the only outstanding player in games two and three.
“There is integrity around the process. To be honest with you, the three of us viewed the game very, very similarly.
“It’s an over-reaction because NSW won the series. There were some standouts through each game but there wasn’t a strong standout. It was a series won by a team rather than individuals.
“The three standouts on Wednesday night were Billy, Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic. They all polled points. The only consistent was Billy Slater in games two and three. When we added the points up independently, that’s how Billy got man of the series.”
Daley added: “Billy Slater won fairly under that system. I can understand why people are frustrated that someone from NSW didn’t win the award.”
Asked would he make his votes public, Daley said: “I don’t really care to be honest with you. I can justify my decisions, as can Mal and Darren Lockyer. I’ve got no drama revealing who I voted for but I can’t unless the NRL told me I could.”
Meninga indicated the overall team performances counted against the Blues in the final count.
“If I’m coach of the Blues team I’m thinking how good is that we had 17 contributors,” Meninga said “It was an outstanding series won by the best team which was NSW with a really good team performance.
“In game one Tedesco one man of the match while Cook and Greg Inglis were the outstanding players. In game two Cordner and Slater polled points and in game three it was Slater, Daly Cherry-Evans and Tommy T.
“The only outstanding performer in two of the three games was Billy. Cook was good throughout the whole series but no-one was outstanding.
“Billy was outstanding.”
NRL boss Todd Greenberg said they would review the voting process but refused to publicly reveal the votes despite 70 per cent of people voting in our poll suggesting the NRL should.
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