A heated debate has erupted surrounding Queensland’s “weak” decision to avoid a Spencer Leniu kick-off return after putting a target on the Blues enforcer’s back.
Leniu entered the field in the 30th minute, lining up on the right side ready to take the first carry after a Valentine Holmes kick-off but was instead deprived of that moment.
It came after he became public enemy number one in Queensland, with Brisbane newspaper The Courier Mail putting a photo of him on the back page accompanied by the headline: “Smash this Blues grub”.
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That sledge stemmed from Leniu’s verbal spat with Maroons legend Johnathan Thurston at Suncorp Stadium last month, which followed Thurston’s comments on the Roosters’ eight-game ban after calling Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam a “monkey”.
On the field, Leniu was clearly angered by the Maroons’ decision and let his feeling be known with some choice words.
However, for Queensland legend Gorden Tallis, the decision to kick to the opposite side of the field was the right call.
“When there’s Morley, Webcke or Paul Harrigon coming off the back fence, early you go ‘bang, let’s kick to them’, if it’s the start of the game ‘let’s see where he’s at’,” he said on NRL360 on Thursday night.
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“But if he’s tearing through you, you go ‘let’s kick it to the other guy. Isn’t that smart?”
Meanwhile, The Australian’s Brent Read supported Tallis’ opinion, explaining the move was simply another tactic to get under Leniu’s skin.
“Why give him what he wants? Why not get under his skin?You can bash him on the next play, what’s the difference?” he said.
However, NRL360 host Braith Anasta wasn’t buying it.
“I’ll tell you why (Queensland should’ve kicked to Leniu)… You’ve got the Ezra Mam situation, you’ve got the Johnathan Thurston situation, the back page of the Courier Mail saying he’s a grub,” he said.
“You’ve got the opportunity to kick to him, try and bash the s**t out of him and set the tone and the example for your side to say ‘we’re going to get the better of him no matter what tonight.’
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“It could change the momentum… I love the excuses… It was weak.”
Anasta also pointed to Tallis and said “I know you would have wanted to do it, I know you”.
Supporting Anasta’s opinion, Fox League’s James Hooper believed Queensland has planned to kick to the opposite side of the field prior to the game.
“The kick-off is the most explosive carry of the game and the way it was built up, the fact it was on the back page of the Courier Mail and then for Queensland, they clearly game-planned that,” he said.
“That was obviously a tactic, that they had obviously gone ‘right, when Spencer comes on let’s go to the other side of the field’. To me that’s like picking a fight and not showing up.”
