Consider the hatchet well and truly buried between Wayne Bennett and Cronulla’s Ben Barba.
The stage was set for an awkward moment when Barba’s Indigenous outfit mingled with supercoach Bennett’s NRL All Stars ahead of official team photos on the Gold Coast on Monday.
But any doubts that Barba had forgiven Bennett for showing him the door at Brisbane in the off-season were dismissed when the pair greeted each other like old chums.
Queensland’s Barba sounded like a new man on Monday, saying State of Origin was again squarely in his sights.
Barba and Bennett shared a laugh when they met ahead of team photos, much to everyone’s relief.
There had been reports Barba had held a huge grudge after being told just months earlier by Bennett that he was not in the returning Broncos coach’s plans.
But Barba told AAP on Monday: “There’s no hard feelings.
“I just had a chat with him before, he wanted to see how I was going.
“Look, we are all grown men and this is a business.
“My job is to play football and not worry about any of that stuff and that is what I am doing.”
Bennett had provided friendly advice to Barba at last month’s All Stars launch when asked about lining up against his former charge at the Gold Coast on Friday night.
“If you want to keep carrying your baggage with you it is going to be a long journey,” the master coach quipped.
It seems Barba heeded the advice.
“All that has happened in the past,” Barba said.
“It doesn’t bother me any more.
“If you focus on the negatives too much it becomes a habit – my focus now is on the Sharks.”
And it seems, an Origin debut for Queensland.
The 2012 Dally M Medallist turned heads in his sparkling Cronulla debut in the halves in last weekend’s trial loss to Manly.
Barba gained inspiration from traditional Queensland foe Paul Gallen in his bid to finally crack the Maroons squad.
“He’s not very outspoken. He lets his actions do the talking at training,” Barba said of Gallen at Cronulla.
“Being a Queenslander you watch him at Origin even though he’s a Blue.
“He’s the kind of bloke you want to play with.
“I can’t wait to line up with him in the next trial hopefully against the Wests Tigers (on February 21), and form a combination with the big fella.”
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