It may have taken a few days, but North Queensland have finally admitted the seventh-tackle refereeing howler did not cost them the NRL elimination final against Cronulla.
“I want to make the point clear – I know it didn’t cost us the game,” veteran centre Brent Tate said.
“Now that a couple of days have passed and the dust has settled – at the end of the day I’m like everyone, it hasn’t cost us the game.
“Decisions like that do affect the mindset of how you’re playing and where you are and the situation on the field and momentum.
“It is really, really disappointing, it’s hard to swallow but there’s not much we can do about it. We’ve just got to move on.”
Tate returned to Sydney on Tuesday for the RLPA’s awards night, where he collected teammate Johnathan Thurston’s Players’ Player gong on behalf of the Cowboys captain.
Thurston opted against coming to the ceremony following a hectic few days, including emotional exchange with reporters at Brisbane airport the day after the game in which he hinted at a pro-Sydney sentiment in the NRL.
Tate had little explanation for Thurston’s bizarre rant.
“I’m as Queensland as they get but I don’t know about the conspiracy theory,” Tate said.
“I think Johnno didn’t have much sleep the night before, I’m tipping.
“I’m sure when he steps back and has a look at it, he’ll have a wry smile on his face himself.”
It was clear the subject was no longer as raw as it was on Sunday, with Tate the victim of good-natured jibes from friends and rivals.
As he conducted his interview on Tuesday night, retiring Brisbane halfback Scott Prince interjected with “I counted nine”.
“… a couple of the boys have been into me about it now,” Tate said.
Thurston suggested there was a desire within NSW to have an all-Sydney grand final, thanks largely to Queensland’s domination of State of Origin.
Queensland Origin captain Cameron Smith – who as skipper of Melbourne is also in charge of the only non-NSW team left in the finals – sympathised with his Maroons teammate.
“I think at the time he was running on raw emotion and you can understand where the bloke’s coming from,” Smith said.
“Their team has had some questionable calls in back-to-back seasons in the same game and he’s a bloke who wears his heart on his sleeve.
“I totally understand where he’s (Thurston) coming from. But from our perspective, if we go out and play to our capabilities then it takes out any of those factors, like referees or the media to say that we shouldn’t be there.”
As for talk of a desire to see a South Sydney-Sydney Roosters grand final, Smith said: “I think it would be a great story for the game if the Rabbitohs and the Roosters were involved.
“They’re two clubs that have been around for a long, long time.”