NSW’s Jarome Luai has described himself as a “sore loser” and taken aim at fans on his Instagram account after he and Reece Walsh were sent from the field for headbutting one another late in the second State of Origin game.
After Walsh’s Queensland retained the shield with their 32-6 win on Wednesday night, Luai said the chance to add another chapter to the pair’s burgeoning Origin rivalry would help motivate him in the third match of the series next month.
Blues five-eighth Luai lost his cool when Queensland fullback Walsh interfered with James Tedesco as the NSW number one chased a kick to the line in the final minute of the game.
That led Walsh to bite back at Luai and the pair headbutted one another after becoming entangled in a fracas.
Teammates pulled them apart and referee Ashley Klein sent both players from the field, with Blues winger Josh Addo-Carr also heading to the sin bin after entering the fray and throwing a punch.
Luai and Walsh have been charged with grade-two striking by the match review committee and must each pay 23 per cent of their match fee after an early guilty plea.
Neither will miss any game time, nor will Addo-Carr, who must pay 10 per cent of his fee for his grade-one striking charge.
“It was just a bit of passion,” Luai said of the incident.
“I’m a bit of a sore loser as well so I was just disappointed. I just hate to lose.
“I don’t get baited. I’m a professional and I know there’s a line always on the field. They won the game, so good on them.”
Luai then posted to his Instagram account at 3am, telling his followers: “Chill, all you idiots have work tomorrow morning.”
The melee came in the wake of Luai accusing Walsh of pulling his hair in the first game of the series, and after a captain’s challenge earlier in Origin II led the bunker to penalise Walsh for a high shot on the NSW man.
The chance to get one over Walsh will be on Luai’s mind ahead of game three.
“It’s a good rivalry we have now,” Luai said.
“If you get the opportunity to play Origin, you’ve always got something to play for, someone to play for.”
Walsh holds Luai, 26, in high regard despite the pair’s recent history of on-field spats.
“It was two passionate players who wear their hearts on their sleeves, who would do anything for their mates and their state,” the Queensland fullback said.
“I respect Jarome as a player. He makes the game interesting. I love watching him play and I love having those battles. It brings out the character in people.”
Walsh expects to feel the full force of the Sydney crowd on July 12.
“You’re always going to get that extra love when you’re in someone else’s backyard, in their territory. It’s going to be a good challenge for the boys,” he said.
Once a fleet-footed fullback himself, Queensland coach Billy Slater has warned Walsh bigger, stronger players will continue to target him in the Origin arena.
“From our point of view, they went after him,” Slater said.
“He’s got to learn to accept that that’s coming at him for the next 15 years.”
Walsh is ready for the extra attention, though.
“If you don’t want to get challenged and you don’t want to have that adversity and try and be better, you’re probably in the wrong sport,” he said.
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Fittler’s future uncertain as Blues face whitewash
Brad Fittler’s future as NSW coach is set to be decided when he meets with the board now that defeat in State of Origin Game II has put a series victory out of reach.
As Fittler insists his focus is only on winning the third game, Queensland coach Billy Slater has defended his interstate rival, urging his detractors not to forget the earlier achievements of his tenure.
Fittler is NSW’s longest continuously serving coach but Wednesday night’s 32-6 loss to the Maroons at Lang Park sealed back-to-back series defeats, and a record of three series wins and three losses.
Fittler had previously acknowledged there would be pressure on his job if he could not clinch a series victory, with his deal set to expire at the end of the year.
But immediately after the game, with the series down 2-0, the coach was not yet considering his future in charge.
“We’ve got another game to go so I’ll worry about that,” he said.
“Then we’ll see what happens with ‘Troddo’ (NSWRL chief executive David Trodden) and the board.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks. We get an opportunity to tidy things up and turn things around and we can discuss it then.”
In his first year at the helm, in 2018, Fittler denied Slater an Origin swansong by guiding the Blues to a 2-1 series victory in the fullback’s last series as a player.
He followed that effort by inspiring the Blues to a win in the 2019 iteration, which featured a 38-6 trouncing in Game II and a last-gasp 26-20 victory in the finale.
Slater’s stocks have risen in his second series in charge, on the back of his bold selection calls and penchant for oratory.
But the Melbourne great was quick to remind Fittler’s doubters that the NSW coach was in his position after the 2019 series, sitting pretty with two shields from as many attempts.
“We are very quick to forget that,” Slater said.
“He’s done a great job with that team, to bring them together, to create a culture.
“Freddy is a great man. He’s a great coach.
“He understands Origin. Don’t forget that.”
The Blues have now lost four of the last five State of Origin matches despite entering as the favourite in all but one of those fixtures.
Fittler is likely to make at least one alteration to his team after centre Tom Trbojevic went down with a pectoral injury but was tight-lipped as to whether he would ring the changes with the series now dead.
“No idea,” he said.
“We’ll see who’s fit and healthy in a couple of weeks and we’ll pick a team and away we go.”
But NSW debutant Stefano Utoikamanu conceded any number of players could be on the chopping block as the Blues look to recapture their winning ways of the 2021 series.
“That’s just how the game goes,” he said.
“If you lose the game, they look at other players who are playing well and people who could fill a spot to hopefully change the result.
“If I don’t play next game, I’m happy with that. I’m just going to keep fighting for a spot in this team.
“People come and go, you’ve already seen that from the first game to the second game. Second to third is not going to be much different.”
AAP/ABC
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