I've had gutful of those fake, smug Maroons

WOULD Queensland be able to sell out an 84,000-seat stadium if they had lost six straight series? I doubt it.

WOULD Queensland be able to sell out an 84,000-seat stadium if they had lost six straight series? I doubt it.

Even the Maroons' most loyal supporter, Chris "Choppy' Close, gave up all hope only a few years ago.

"Origin is dead" he was reported to have murmured after the Blues annihilated Queensland 56-16 in 2000.

I guess it says a lot about NSW - and Origin. The people, our team, the passion.

On Wednesday night, you won't be able to move around ANZ Stadium because Origin football means something in Sydney - despite what you always hear out of Queensland.

This is what I call tough loyalty. When times are tough you find who's in your corner. You found out who genuinely cares. Our fans don't hide their loyalty and passion.

And so Queensland came out during the week saying we don't have the "mentality" to win Origin.

I cannot tell you how deeply disappointed I am to hear that.

On the upside, though, I want to thank the Queenslanders for saving me from what could have been an embarrassing mistake.

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Here I was happily going along in the Blues camp, coaching my players, telling them what's required for Origin football.

Part of that is teaching them about the history of Origin and of the rivalry this game has been built on.

But maybe I am wrong and should just hang up the clipboard because yes, I know, Queensland are the authority on all things Origin.

It all starts and ends with them. Right?

I even tried saying that following the opening match in Melbourne, when the interpretation of the game certainly seemed to prove as much.

But I got shot down for that, called a whinger, even though the noises coming out of Queensland indicates they agree with me.

And now we don't have the mentality.

To be honest, I've had a gutful of Queensland's smugness and their fake graciousness in victory.

I see a lot of people at different times congratulating the Queensland players about how they handle victory. And some genuinely are humble.

But these Origin players come from all different clubs, and the old line about Mate versus Mate is not just some marketing gimmick.

Between Origin games these guys all go back to their clubs and talk to each other and the guard comes down. We're aware of it, and to be honest we have no problem with it until they keep promoting some holier than thou attitude to the public. That's when it gets a little irritating, to be honest.

I know the rules, though.

We've lost six series in a row and until we show we are good enough to end that, we're going to have to keep enduring it.

What I also know is that while Queensland always claim to have the mortgage on passion and pride, not one of them has ever stepped foot inside our camp. Deep down they know what we are building here.

They know we're coming.

They don't see what our guys go through. What they believe.

And they might argue that they are not smug and that they are absolutely right in their assessment of us, but they won't give one shred of absolute proof to make their case.

It seems to have upset Queenslanders that I had a meeting with the referees coaches, Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper, on Friday to clarify some of the rule interpretations from game one.

I don't want to go into this, most of it is highly technical and extremely boring, but it was important to us and, once again, it apparently upset the Queenslanders.

I can't see why Queensland are upset by this.

I thought it was clear by now that I don't know what I'm doing here and, as such, any little help I can be given should be appreciated.

It might give us a chance, which we clearly need.

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