{"id":82480,"date":"2021-06-08T22:12:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T22:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=82480"},"modified":"2021-06-08T22:58:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T22:58:43","slug":"joeys-embarrassing-fear-for-origin-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=82480","title":{"rendered":"Joey's 'embarrassing' fear for Origin opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

League legend Andrew Johns<\/a> says fans will "burn the stadium down" if the bunker decides the opening State of Origin match in Townsville<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With concerns that the NRL's high-tackle crackdown will turn Origin into a farce, Johns hit out at players who stay down in the hope of attracting a penalty.<\/p>\n

Asked if milking penalties is the worst it's ever been, Johns left no doubt as to his feelings.<\/p>\n

The opening State of Origin match in Townsville will be live on Nine from 7pm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Yep. It's embarrassing," he said on his Wide World of Sports show Immortal Behaviour.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

"It's absolutely embarrassing, that's all I can say.<\/p>\n

"The game's been built on toughness, we celebrate John Sattler playing a grand final with a broken jaw, we celebrate Sam Burgess (who) broke his cheekbone in the first hit-up."<\/p>\n

The former New South Wales captain admitted players are simply taking advantage of the way the rules are being enforced.<\/p>\n

"We've got blokes laying down, pretending to be hurt, then they get the penalty and they stand up and start smiling.<\/p>\n

"I don't blame the players, they're just exploiting it."<\/p>\n

Johns said he wouldn't have accepted such a tactic from his own players when he was in charge.<\/p>\n

"It's against the fabric of the game, it's against what we stand for as a team and a state," he explained.<\/p>\n

"I understand if you get clipped and you get whacked, but if you get a little love tap on the face, and you lay down like a dog, don't you dare do it.<\/p>\n

Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans called for a gentleman's agreement to prevent players from milking penalties, but Johns was quick to dismiss such an idea as ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

"It's the closest thing to civil war this country's ever had, Queensland-NSW Origin, and you're talking about a gentleman's agreement?" he said.<\/p>\n

"Absolute rubbish."<\/p>\n

Queensland legend Billy Slater said he doesn't expect the game to be marred by a rash of penalties<\/a>, suggesting players would be too scared to take a dive in the game's showpiece event.<\/p>\n

But Johns noted that the NRL would look silly or weak if they backed down from their high-tackle crackdown, but insists the Origin opener must be decided on the field, not off it.<\/p>\n

"I just hope, hope, hope, that the players decide who wins the game, it's not the bunker who comes in and imposes itself on the game," he said.<\/p>\n

"They impose themself for a lazy, soft hit around the chops, and they decide who wins.<\/p>\n

"Imagine if it happens and Queensland gets beaten, they'll burn the stadium down."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

League legend Andrew Johns says fans will "burn the stadium down" if the bunker decides the opening State of Origin match in Townsville. With concerns […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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\/82480"}],"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=82480"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82482,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82480\/revisions\/82482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}