"I don't want to get into a slanging match here but it was pretty disrespectful. I think that just typifies what their team is about," Thurston said. "While Smith is sitting at the top of the tree for the amount of games that he's played, the respect that he deserves ... I thought it was disrespectful what they did. But they got the result in the end and probably didn't deem it disrespectful just to walk off while he was still saying his speech." Maroons captain Cameron Smith thanks fans after winning the series. Credit:Getty Images Asked if he noticed the Blues players walk away, Smith said: "I did." Pressed for his reaction, Smith mused: "It's something our team wouldn't do. I'll decide tomorrow [what I think], I'll have a look at it." Walters was a little more expansive on the matter after a spiteful match that was dominated by NSW's allegation that Queensland were "bad winners", mainly sparked by prop Josh McGuire's social media jibe that "losers have meetings, winners have parties" in the wake of Origin II. "I didn't know that happened," Walters said. "It's extremely disrespectful, I would have thought." The Blues' official Twitter account posted a sledge aimed at McGuire suggesting Queensland ought to "have a meeting" after the Origin III loss. It was quickly deleted.

Retiring NSW skipper Gallen hosed down the issue of ignoring Smith in his post-match press conference. "I didn't even notice [we walked away]," he said. "We did what we had to do and then thanked the fans." The deleted tweet: The NSWRL has been criticised for this post sent out soon after the Blues beat Queensland in game three. Credit:Twitter The match was not short of controversy with Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk sent to the sin bin for grabbing at Wade Graham as he chased down a James Maloney kick, part of a 12-3 caning the visitors copped in the penalty count. But that incident was nothing compared to Andrew Fifita's brain snap, charging at a Queensland huddle after Gavin Cooper's touchdown to take exception with the try-scorer flinging the ball at Matt Moylan's head. He was sin binned, but NSW kept their line intact. "It's another sign of what their team is about," Thurston said.

NSW coach Laurie Daley said his reaction to Fifita's moment of madness "was for another day", but Smith was much more forthcoming on the NRL Bunker's interpretation of Michael Jennings' involvement in the lead-up to Fifita's second-half try. Jennings appeared in front of Graham as he stabbed the ball through and failed to retreat, but was not involved in Fifita scoring despite being within the 10 metres of the try. "That wasn't the referee's decision though – that came from the bunker – and I understand that," said Smith, who was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series. "At the end of the day there's human beings controlling these decisions and they're going to make errors. We've got to get that ruling right. "I'm a bit different to Kev as I was on the field and I could see how much effort the boys were putting in. For something like that happen ... it's hard to take. [But] we had our chance to win that game with a minute to go." Loading

Daley said the rules had been "relaxed" in regards to passive offside players, but it didn't appease Smith, who said the refereeing controversy didn't diminish his side's win. "Not at all ... it didn't take any gloss off at all," Smith said. "We're obviously disappointed we lost the game tonight and we wanted to make it a memorable night for a few guys. We finish this season as the series champions and 10 out of 11 is a pretty good result."