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Hodges takes parting shot at axed Farah

Retired Queensland great Justin Hodges has taken a dig at Robbie Farah after the veteran hooker was left out of NSW's team for Origin I.

Laurie Daley has gone with young Titans rake Nathan Peats at No.9, but only because Penrith's Peter Wallace was ruled out with a groin injury.

Farah's omission likely spells the end of his career in the Origin arena, given he's now not even second in line.

ALL CLASS: Robbie Farah's response to Origin axing

Hodges on Wednesday night took dig at Farah, labelling him “a guy that plays for himself”.

“I think this is the best side they’ve picked for a long time,” Hodges told Fox Sports’ Queenslanders Only.

Farah. Image: Getty
Farah. Image: Getty

“The big guy that stands out there for me is Nathan Peats. I think he’s going to be outstanding for them.

“I’m glad they didn’t pick Robbie Farah, I think the days of Robbie Farah are gone.

“He’s just past his day. He’s a guy that plays for himself.

Hodges. Image: Getty
Hodges. Image: Getty

"In Origin football you can’t play for yourself, you need your teammates to win games.

“Especially those big moments, you can’t have a player doing what he wants to do, you’ve got to always do what the team wants to do.”

It's the second time in two weeks Hodges has taken aim at Farah.

“Robbie Farah has had 10 years in the Origin arena to prove himself and they haven’t got the results they might have wanted,” Hodges told nrl.com last week.

Speaking of sledges, the infamous Johnathan Thurston-Mitchell Pearce incident from 2015 is back in the news.

As Queensland romped to a record 52-6 game three win that sealed the series, Thurston took aim at Pearce, who had reportedly bagged the Maroons for being too old.

After failing to stop yet another Queensland try, the Blues No.7 was told by Thurston to get a picture outside Suncorp Stadium with the Origin Shield-wielding Wally Lewis statue "because that's the closest you'll get to the trophy".

Pearce has lost all six Origin series he has played in.

But Thurston revealed there are no hard feelings, throwing his support behind the rejuvenated Pearce.

"It's great to see Mitch back," Thurston said.

"There's been a lot of talk about Mitch and I and we had a really good chat after a game last year," Thurston said.

"As a rugby league community we get behind each other.

"And it's good to see that he's come back and wrestled those mental demons and doing really good work in the community about that aspect and he's back to playing his best footy."

with AAP