{"id":451651,"date":"2025-05-28T21:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=451651"},"modified":"2025-05-28T23:14:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T23:14:04","slug":"leniu-blowing-up-as-maroons-fail-to-smash-this-grub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=451651","title":{"rendered":"Leniu 'blowing up' as Maroons fail to 'smash this grub'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland<\/a> had the chance to make a statement and turn the tide of the State of Origin<\/a> opener by going after Blues<\/a> agitator Spencer Leniu on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Instead what the Maroons did left Leniu spitting chips and hunting to get some ball.<\/p>\n

Leniu was lashed by a prominent Brisbane newspaper on Origin eve<\/a>. The back page headline read "smash this Blues grub".<\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS:<\/strong> 'Real disappointment' called out in Maroons stinker\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Watson basketball pass, Edwards try seal stunning NSW win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Spider cam reveals trainer's act that led to referee spray\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Last year he was punished for a racial slur against Broncos player Ezra Mam, and earlier this season he reignited the fire by getting into a verbal stoush with Maroons icon Johnathan Thurston during a game.<\/p>\n

\ufeffHe started on the bench in game one and was brought into the action after a Brian To'o try put NSW up 10-0 about 10 minutes before half time.<\/p>\n

\"Blues<\/p>\n

"\ufeffThere has been plenty of movement on the sidelines – Lindsay Collins is about to come on, and Spencer Leniu," Nine's sideline man Brad Fittler said.<\/p>\n

"I'm not sure if the crowd has worked it out yet\ufeff, but he's just gone on."<\/p>\n

Commentator Mat Thompson noted, "\ufeffIt won't take them long to work out Spencer is out there… He might carry the kick-off back\ufeff from the resumption shortly".<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 State of Origin series exclusively live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When the raucous Suncorp Stadium faithful did realise who had just run onto the field, a chorus of boos rang out.<\/p>\n

Leniu was pacing and champing at the bit, ready to take the first hit-up after the try and see what the Queensland defence had for him.<\/p>\n

Instead the Maroons lined up to kick the ball right – away from Leniu.<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/p>\n

"\ufeffSpencer has just realised Queensland aren't going to kick to him from the restart," Thompson said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffThey're going to the opposite side. The Queensland press put a bounty on his head, he is public enemy No.1 here tonight."\ufeff<\/p>\n

Leniu was seen pointing and yelling at the Maroons for taking the moment away from him.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"He is blowing up," Blues legend Andrew Johns laughed.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffGet ready, here comes Spencer. Spencer will be off the back fence."<\/p>\n

\"Spencer<\/p>\n

When Leniu did take his first hit-up he was met with a rather standard tackle from Harry Grant and Reuben Cotter – hardly the bone-rattling reception Queensland fans were hoping for.<\/p>\n

The Maroons coaches and players refused to mention Leniu during the build-up and they missed a trick by failing to use the feud to fire them up when it was needed – they lost the contest 18-6.<\/p>\n

In just 24 minutes on the field Leniu had seven runs for one tackle break, but provided some energy and go-forward when his team needed it.<\/p>\n

He also landed 10 tackles at a 100 per cent efficiency rate, and was later seen sticking his tongue out at the crowd when the Blues triumphed.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queensland had the chance to make a statement and turn the tide of the State of Origin opener by going after Blues agitator Spencer Leniu […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":451653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=451651"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451656,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451651\/revisions\/451656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/451653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=451651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=451651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=451651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}