‘How is two weeks fair’: QLD legend blasts Blues brawl bans in awkward clash with Madge
Gorden Tallis and Michael Maguire have once again duelled in a fiery exchange with the pair clashing over the ban lengths Blues players received stemming from the melee during last night’s decider.
The Maroons legend and New South Wales coach have been at each other’s throats all series and it finally boiled over when they went head-to-head on Fox Sports’ NRL 360.
The pair exchanged niceties to begin with, but it wasn’t long before tensions boiled over as Tallis cut loose at the NSW mentor.
“It’s good to see you and Gordy so pleasant to each other,” The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield joked before asking Maguire about the sideline brawl.
The NRL judiciary today handed down its match review charges from the decider, with Haumole Olakau’atu, who was dressed in a suit and watching from the sidelines, and Rabbitohs star Cameron Murray, who ran in from the bench, the only players facing suspensions for the scuffle.
Maguire defended his players for their involvement.
“I just saw a really well-connected group, Buzz. Look everyone’s going to have their opinion about that space but I know both those players, especially Cam Murray, he looked down the sidelines and probably saw one of his own, one of his brothers there on his own with a few people surrounding him and he just reacted to the situation and that’s off instinct,” Maguire said.
“When you’re very close to someone your instincts kick in and I think that’s what the boys did and they obviously got involved there but no one was hurt and we all move on but what an unbelievable sort of spectacle it became because of the emotion and what Origin really means to people.
“It’s a shame they’ve got bans I guess they’ve got to look at the game in a certain way but from my point of view I am very pleased for my players for how they looked after each other. But I do get you’ve got to be careful in that situation.”
That’s when Tallis went for the jugular.
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“Hold on, hold on. A two-week ban? If I did that in under 16’s in Townsville I would have got a 12-month ban,” Tallis quipped to Maguire.
“If I run off the bench to get into a fight when I was playing rugby league I would have got a 12-month ban probably. How is it fair two weeks?
“So in all country footy and junior footy you think it’s fair? A bloke in a suit (Olakau’atu) getting into a fight?”
Maguire kept his cool and doubled down in supporting his players.
“Look, Gordie, I’m not saying it’s fair and I agree with you Gordie and I’m not disagreeing I agree with you, but what I am saying is when you build a bond with a group of people you’ve just got to be aware of the situation,” Maguire said.
“But for all the kids out there, definitely not you can’t be doing those sorts of things. But from the point of view of a coach and how you see a bond between a group of people, it was obviously the moment in time.”
Tallis and Maguire have been trading barbs all series after Maguire made his now infamous “glass houses” comment in calling out Billy slater after the Maroons coach was critical of Blues player Joseph Suaalii for almost taking Reece Walsh’s head off in Origin One – resulting in his eight-minute send off.