Meninga stands by anti-NSW column

Queensland State of Origin coach Mal Meninga has refused to apologise to NSW rugby league identities who threatened him with legal action over his explosive Sunday Mail column.

Meninga told Friday’s Courier-Mail he stood by his printed reaction to what he called unfair off-field behaviour against himself and his team.

“There is no way to put it delicately,” he told the newspaper.

“But what I said needed to be said. They have called me a ranter. They have called me a raver. They have called me a weirdo, called me mad.

“But the people of Queensland needed to be made aware of the hurdles that their team had to overcome to bring them victory.

“The easy thing to do would be to say, ‘well, we won the series’ and cop it on the chin.

“But I wanted everyone to know the hurdles this team has faced so that next year, the people responsible for it will not think they can get away with it without us biting back.

“They started this fight, with the tactics they employed this year.

“It got to the stage where we couldn’t retaliate because it would have harmed our preparations to do so. The smart thing was to wait until the job was done, all the emotion was taken out of it at the end of the series, and let a few people know what we thought.

“This was not a column where I just shot from the hip. This was a few weeks in the making, right from before the State of Origin series began.

“I knew there would be a lot of drama, a lot of media banter around Origin. There always is and I think it is fantastic for the game.

“It adds to the theatre of Origin. But when it descends from spirited banter to a blatant personal attack, that is when the line has been crossed. That is what really upsets me. Personal attacks and hypocrisy this year took things too far.”

Meninga was particularly angered during the interstate series by newspaper stories saying he was simply a figure head and others were responsible for the exploits of the winning team.

He had until 5pm Thursday to notify NRL match review chairman Greg McCallum whether he intended delivering an unreserved apology and front page retraction for his stinging comments in last weekend’s Sunday Mail or face possible legal action.

The Turkey 10

The Turkey 10 teams have now been selected, as Wild Turkey Bourbon's sport sponsorship kicks into the next exciting phase.

Choose which side you're going to support and get in the running to win $2,500!

Simply visit Wild Turkey Australia on Facebook for your chance to win.

Find out more.