Johns brothers’ fall-out shows NSW does Origin differently to Queensland

A fortnight ago, I had ringside seats for the heavyweight stoush between Matty and Andrew Johns in the SEN studios in North Sydney.

Speaking on his show Morning Glory, Matty sang the praises of Queensland coach Billy Slater, whom he described as “almost the best coach in the game”.

“You just know how he explains, how he coaches, the intricacies, the players absolutely love him,” he said. “Queensland know exactly how they’re going to play and who they need to pick to make that happen.”

A red mist descended on his brother. “And NSW don’t know how they’re going to play?” Andrew, one of the Blues assistant coaches, snapped.

“No, nope.”

“Mate, I’m sick of you rapping Queensland, that’s what I’m sick of.”

Andrew Johns at Blues training this week.Credit: Brook Mitchell

On and on it went, the two brothers ripping into each other like they were grappling over a Tonka truck in the backyard at Cessnock when they were boys. It was fabulous banter and even better radio. You can listen to the full exchange here.

“You’re blowing smoke up their backsides, I couldn’t care less about Queensland,” Andrew continued. “They’re the enemy. We grew up hating them, we grew up watching ‘The King’ [Wally Lewis] absolutely kill us.”

If there’s one emotion Andrew can’t hide, it’s anger. When NSW lose, no player — former or current — hurts more than he does.

His visceral response that Friday morning taps into a broader argument that NSW eats their own; that former players should be supportive of their Origin team, not critical of it, and certainly not fanboys of the Maroons.

Blues coach Brad Fittler spoke to it in an interview with the Sun-Herald last week: “Sometimes I get discouraged by how people in NSW talk about NSW and their players. NSW is a funny place; it’s different to others. The people are different.”

Fittler was speaking about fans, but there’s a strong belief within the Blues set-up that some former players aren’t in their corner.

The line is difficult to straddle. Matty Johns played four matches for NSW but is now a media commentator paid good money to voice unbiased and honest opinion. Slater was a revelation for Queensland last year and the 2-1 series win proved it.

Nevertheless, could you ever imagine a former Queensland player praising the Blues for any of their success? Would they ever acknowledge any of the good work Fittler has done in winning three of five series in charge?

It’s a clichéd fallacy that Queenslanders are more passionate about Origin, but it’s true they support their team differently to NSW. The reason for this, perhaps, is the sizeable chip that resides on their shoulders.

Queensland coach Billy Slater.Credit: Getty

So said Wayne Bennett in his 2008 book Man in the Mirror: “Being a Queenslander, you are brought up to believe New South Welshmen think they are better … That’s part of the Queensland psyche — that’s what we are born with. You hear your parents talking about it, and you just pick it up. I’ve always been on a mission to say you don’t have to live in Sydney to be somebody in life.”

The stampede of Queensland players in the 1960s and ’70s to Sydney clubs flush with poker machine revenue meant the Maroons were, for decades, perennial underdogs in interstate football.

It annoyed the players who stayed in Brisbane but those who did come to Sydney weren’t as parochial towards their state as we’ve been led to believe. Players like Arthur Beetson.

At the True Blues function on Monday night, the legendary centre Michael Cronin was inducted into the NSWRL Hall of Fame alongside Danny Buderus and he was typically entertaining and wise when Tim Gilbert interviewed him on stage.

He revealed how Beetson, his former Parramatta teammate who was born in Roma, actually enjoyed playing for NSW and beating Queensland before the eligibility rules were changed in 1980.

That would surprise many Queenslanders, who consider Beetson the father figure of Origin football, especially after he famously whacked Cronin in a tackle in the first match at Lang Park.

Queensland have carried a sense of inferiority in the 43 years that followed despite their long stretches of success and the platoons of quality players they have produced.

With that in mind, former players rarely criticise their team’s performance or selections. Even those in the media stick to the script.

Compare the reaction of Queensland dumping Dane Gagai for the opening match of this series to that of NSW winger Josh Addo-Carr last year.

Fittler was slammed for overlooking Addo-Carr, yet there has been no noticeable criticism in Queensland of Slater’s decision to overlook Gagai, who played 22 consecutive matches and was named man of the series in 2017.

On the rare occasions when former Queensland players are critical, it’s for a reason.

Before the deciding match of the 2002 series, Bennett instructed Courier-Mail reporters to phone former prop Greg Dowling to fire up the current crop of forwards, including a knockout line about Dane Carlaw: “Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane.”

The remarks inspired Carlaw to play the game of his life, scoring a 50-metre try on full-time to draw the match, which was enough to ensure Queensland retained the shield.

Dane Carlaw’s last-gasp try broke Blues hearts in 2002.Credit: Getty

For the rest of Carlaw’s career, though, it was a sore point. He’d walk out of interviews at the mere mention of Dowling’s name. For reasons known only to them, nobody from the Maroons explained to him the mind trickery that had been at play. Imagine if a NSW coach made such a clandestine move? Imagine if Fittler pulled a stunt like that during this preparation?

Queensland believe they are the sole custodians of Origin mythology, and that’s OK because it works for them. They’ve also done well under Slater.

The Blues play best when they block out the noise, brush aside the commentary and focus on being the premier state Queensland wishes it could be.

As for the Johns brothers, they’re not talking, apparently ... How good is Origin?

Freddy’s fighting chance

Evidently, Fittler has never read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, in which the fifth century Chinese general writes “all warfare is based on deception”.

After selecting livewires Tevita Pangai jnr and Hudson Young, the NSW coach has made it abundantly clear he wants his forwards to play aggressively in the series opener at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.

Pangai is expected to start, go mad for 20 minutes, then get a rest — unless referee Ashley Klein sits him down first.

The Blues’ comments about not getting bullied as they did in the deciding match last year haven’t gone unnoticed by the NRL. It will be interesting to see how much leeway Klein and the Bunker gives them.

Mean hombre: Tevita Pangai jnr.Credit: Getty

AB fears Ashes ambush

Is Australia setting itself up for an Ashes face-plant? Some pointed comments from former captain Allan Border this week about Australia not playing a single warm-up match before the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval then the series against England are cause for concern.

“It just doesn’t feel right not to play any cricket leading into an Ashes series,” Border told Fox Sports. “I just think that’s fraught with danger … there’s something gnawing at me saying it’s the wrong decision.”

Before the 1989 series, which Australia won under Border’s watch, the touring team played 10 matches before the first Test. Ten!

Of course, the cricket landscape has changed. Many Australian players will be coming from the IPL while the Ashes series has been jammed into a six-week window so that England players can take part in The Hundred.

But after losing the Test series against India earlier this year having played no tour matches, you’d have thought Australia would play some red-ball cricket this time. Alas, they will not.

THE QUOTE
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THUMBS DOWN
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