‘It's not weak, it's smart': Maroons defend decision not to kick off to Spencer Leniu
Queensland Origin officials have defended the decision to avoid kicking off to Blues wrecking ball Spencer Leniu on Wednesday night, insisting it was 'smart business' rather than 'weak'.
TV cameras captured Leniu mouthing profanities and throwing his arms in the air in frustration after Val Holmes spotted him come on to the field at the half-hour mark, then aimed his kick-off towards the opposite side away from the Roosters prop.
It denied a fired-up Leniu – one of the game's most destructive front-rowers – the chance to run the ball hard back at the Queensland defence and deprived viewers of a contest that had been eagerly anticipated due to the simmering tensions between Leniu and Queensland fans.
The 24-year-old was painted as NSW's biggest villain because of his sideline run-in with Maroons legend Johnathan Thurston at Suncorp Stadium six weeks earlier. Local newspaper The Courier Mail ran a photo of Leniu on their back page the day before the game with the headline, 'Smash This Blues Grub'.
Former NSW firebrand Willie Mason claimed Queensland had been 'shit scared' after watching Leniu run over the top of NSW teammate Max King in the Roosters' match against Canterbury a week earlier. In that same game, Leniu took another kick-off carry and knocked out Daniel Suluka-Fifita.
'To him [Leniu], it's like, 'You don't even have the balls to kick it to me', Mason said on his Levels podcast. 'You called him out, a call to arms if you will, and then you kicked it the other way. Yuck.'
However, Maroons assistant coach Josh Hannay said it made sense to avoid Leniu because he was so damaging when coming off the back fence. He said Queensland also tried to avoid kicking to where Payne Haas was standing.
'It's not weak to do that, it's smart – it's smart business to try and take away someone's strength,' Hannay said.
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