Billy Slater reacts to ‘grub’ claim; references late Paul Green

“I believe the character of a person is judged more on what they say about people, and how they treat people, than what an individual says to create attention about someone. There’s your answer.”

Green, who coached Queensland in 2021, took his own life in 2022 aged 49.

NSW officials pointed out afterwards that Queensland’s tabloid newspaper, The Courier Mail, had run a picture of NSW forward Spencer Leniu with the headline, ‘Smash This Blues Grub’, the day before Origin I, prompting Daley to say: “Grub is a heavy word”.

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Woods later explained he had felt the need to “ruffle up some feathers” after a lacklustre build-up to Origin I and a first game he said was “boring”.

Woods, who was later referred to by former Queensland forward Corey Parker as “Sharon Woods”, did not wish to comment when contacted and said: “Tune into Triple M in the morning.”

When a fan yelled out to Slater that he was “under pressure” at the start of the media conference, Slater said: “What is pressure? To me, the opposite to pressure is comfort, so you’re either comfortable or in a pressure situation. Of course there’s pressure. The day there’s no pressure, I’ll be a bit worried.”

Slater’s Queensland side will try to avoid losing the series at Optus Stadium on Wednesday night after NSW won the opening game 18-6.

There has been plenty of debate about whether the Maroons will start Harry Grant at No. 9 or relegate him to the interchange.

“We still have another training session to go, and we don’t have to make our final decision until tomorrow, but that’s the plan [to start Grant] at this stage,” Slater said.

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