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Message: [QUOTE="Kooly87, post: 3054559, member: 9326"] I'm not entirely sure the blame for this can all be levelled at the Queensland Coaching staff or selectors etc. - Inglis had a complete breakdown in his mental and physical health and retired prematurely. It should have been a fit Inglis in his farewell series lining up at Left Centre instead of an out of position Morgan and an out of position Mbye. Nothing the Queensland management could do about any of this. - Slater and Thurston both retired giving Queensland their absolute very best right up until their very last game (Thurston until his very last touch) so no issue there with either of those guys. Slater even did it after he was done the injustice of being overlooked initially by Walters in the first place. - The two biggest culprits I'm sorry to say, in my eyes at least, are Cronk and Smith. Both these guys have been huge in building up the culture and spirit of Queensland over the previous decade and should be justifiably proud of what they achieved. Cronk in particular had to bide his time for a starting spot and should have been the most grateful for the career he ended up enjoying as Queensland managed his shift from Bench to starting Halfback so brilliantly. To then have these two go through what was so clearly a personal falling out that forced them into splitting their club combination, followed by both deciding out of the blue to retire despite having years left on their NRL contracts and no obvious successors to their positions in the pipeline, was extremely selfish and for me has to an extent tarnished the legacy of both players. Smith in particular was the incumbent Captain and through his own longevity in the position had ensured that no other player was even in the Dummy Half position pipeline to replace him (not a bad thing or Smith's fault) and not only had more time on his current contract, he was actually looking to extend that contract even further at that point which he ultimately did. To then pull the pin on his Origin career less than a month out from the start of the series was simply shameful. Walters made it about as clear as he respectfully could publicly that Smith was still his preferred option both last year and this year and always left the door open for him, but Smith for whatever reason known only to him, chose to leave his state and the culture he'd been instrumental in helping to build, totally high and dry in their hour of need. History will remember all these guys as absolute titans of the game. Smith may yet be remembered as the very best of all time, but in a career that already had one or two question marks over him and his character, the way he chose to finish his time as a Queensland Origin player and the Queensland Captain no less, will for me always leave a mark against him. Compared to guys like Slater, Thurston and even GI, who so utterly gave their all to Queensland right up until their bodies quite literally failed them, Smith's swansong simply does his overall legacy a grave disservice and pails in comparison to the guys who played alongside him. [/QUOTE]

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