Michael Maguire doubles down on Maroons Origin remarks after Gorden Tallis swipe at Blues

NSW coach Michael Maguire is refusing to back down over his State of Origin swipe at Queensland after doubling down on the now infamous "glass houses" remark before the Game 3 decider. Maguire has made just two changes to his Blues side for the July 17 showdown at Suncorp Stadium, with Newcastle centre Bradman Best replacing injured Souths superstar Latrell Mitchell and Warriors hard man Mitch Barnett coming in for Manly's Haumole Olakau'atu on the bench. Best sent a scare through Blues camp on Monday after being sent for precautionary scans on a tight hamstring, stemming from Sunday's win against Canberra.

Queensland coach Billy Slater has made a raft of changes to his Maroons side - many of which are injury-enforced. Dane Gagai and Selwyn Cobbo have been recalled to replace injured wingers Xavier Coates and Murray Taulagi, Dragons back-rower Jaydn Su'a has been dropped and Kalyn Ponga comes onto the bench, with Slater once again leaving wrecking ball David Fifita out of the squad completely.

Both coaches spoke about their teams on Monday and Maguire was quick to get on the front foot. The Blues mentor accused Queenslanders of living in "glass houses" for criticising Joseph Suaalii and his Blues side over the Reece Walsh high shot in Game 1. And Maguire's men also came under fire from Maroons legends such as Gorden Tallis for their aggressive approach in the 38-18 mauling of Queensland in Game 2.

Tallis took exception to Mitchell pushing Walsh in the back during an off-the-ball moment and said the Blues centre and his teammates "bullied" the Queenslanders in Melbourne. Many found the comments from Tallis hypocritical as he was a renowned aggressor during his playing days and frequently toed the line for club, state and country.

Maroons assistant Nate Myles had a similarly chequered disciplinary record during his playing days and was one of the most outspoken critics of the Suaalii send off in Game 1. Myles could be seen giving the Blues rookie a massive spray as he left the field and Maguire was quick to remind reporters about some of these incidents after addressing the criticism of his team from those in Queensland.

Blues coach doubles down on 'glass houses' swipe at QLD

“Glass houses again. If you go back in time (you’ll see a few things that they did),” Maguire told reporters on Monday. “We keep it on the field. There were a fair few things off the field that probably showed up in game 1 that you can look at. We’ll look at how we want to play, and we’ll keep to how we do things."

The Blues coach said he made no apologies for his side's aggressive approach in Game 2 and suggested the Maroons can expect more of the same in the series decider. “What was nice to see was that the boys were actually sticking up for each other in the way that we wanted to play," he added.

“There’s a fine line and that’s the stuff that we talked about, but I think the way that the players have shown they want to play is the style that NSW want to go about this.” Maguire refused to take another swipe at Slater's decision to scrap a full squad media opportunity that had been planned for Monday - something NSW have been slammed for doing in the past.

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“That’s probably the path they’ve gone, but what I’ve learnt in this role is that the Origin team is about the people – it’s the people’s team,” Maguire said. “I’ve definitely felt that in the enormity of the role. Everywhere you go around NSW, the support you get from the fans and the people and the passion that they have for this team is quite incredible.

“I see the team as the people’s team, and something that our group has adopted is that we want to bring everyone on the journey. The fans in that first game all turned out in droves, and while we weren’t quite able to get the result we were after, the effort the boys showed was excellent.

“They’ve had their way, and we’re doing it our way. That’s one thing where we’ve had a really good focus on is around what we’re doing. Ever since I was growing up, it’s always been about the people and how we’ve been supporters. Watching all the young kids now running around with Blues jerseys on, that’s one thing we’re starting to see on the streets where the NSW jersey is alive and well.”