"We'll be ready to go for game three – we're not at The Star or the Novotel here," Fifita said, adding: "It was tough at The Star. I was on level 16, there were a few of us on level 16, but we couldn't even get down to [teammates on] level 11. It was a bit different in the casino … Moving forward, nothing beats being up in [Kingscliff] away from everyone else." Those remarks about the major sponsor went down like a schooner of nails within the Blues set-up, as did his gripes about not getting enough ball and being sledged by Maroons forward Josh McGuire. Indeed, the story appeared on the NRL's website but was promptly pulled down at the request of the NSWRL. (We wonder if such editorial interference will be tolerated later this year when the NRL website is revamped and branded as an independent news source like the AFL's). Since Fifita's comments, any mention of The Star and the Blues' game-two loss in the same sentence has prompted Trump-like anger and paranoia about sending the wrong message. Some employees have been accused of leaks, reporters sprayed about having an agenda while players have seemingly been gagged from comparing their tranquil surrounds at Kingscliff to the bizarre scene at The Star of famous footballers mixing with desperate punters and the blue-rinse set who'd just watched The Bodyguard musical at the Lyric Theatre.

Halfback Mitchell Pearce trod a fine line when he said this on Wednesday: "It's good to be up here, I think. We've got good memories from Kingscliff in the first camp. We've created a good vibe here. It definitely helps with your preparation no doubt. There were no excuses why we lost the second half by staying at the casino. If it was going to affect us it would have affected the way we started the game and I felt like that was not an issue at all. While this is definitely more ideal, The Star is a great sponsor, and it was good to stay there, I thought." Yes, some players you talked to preferred Kingscliff to The Star. Some preferred the casino, especially those who cleaned up when they hit the tables. Yes, you can understand the NSWRL being antsy about any perceived criticism of their major sponsor, especially if their lucrative deal has a get-out clause around any adverse publicity. But to suggest it was the reason for NSW's capitulation in game two is a cop-out. And let's face it: The Star is a casino, not a monastery. If the NSWRL can't roll with a few punches about a casino not being the best place for a team to prepare for an Origin, it needs to develop a thicker skin.

If the flat-cap fits So, Australian cricketers are on strike over their pay dispute and Australia A's tour of South Africa has been called off. Rugby league players aren't on strike yet, but they are wearing RLPA flat-caps and hijacking the build-up to the Origin decider. At the heart of the issue for both codes is players wanting a fixed share of revenue; a system that cricketers have had for 20 years and what rugby league players want now. Former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou once called it a "lazy way of doing business" during CBA negotiations in 2011. "That is still probably my view," he told this column. "In cricket, it's different. When you've got something in place it's hard to take that away. It's like flying business class and going back to economy. I get that – but I still don't agree with it. There's some revenue streams you can share in, but there are some that you don't and shouldn't. It doesn't take into account profitability, it doesn't take into account development. The thing about running a code is that you're forever trying to balance the needs of stakeholders: clubs, players, venues, sponsors, broadcasters and the most important stakeholder, the public. You can't satisfy all of them. You're forever trying to balance expectations but you disappoint all of them in some ways. If you start off on the basis of a shared-revenue model that doesn't take into account profitability, and it doesn't take into account that you want to put money into development, it's a flawed model. That's a personal view of mine and I was immovable on that."

Not such a mystery A "mystery blonde" partying with Nick Kyrgios in London this week might have been a mystery to The Daily Telegraph – but not to the fine readers of this column. The Tele ran on its front page on Thursday some paparazzi photos of Kyrgios on the tear and "causing a racquet until 3am after retiring hurt from his first round Wimbledon match". A racquet? Get it? Nick Kyrgios' 'mystery' blonde Monique Belovukovic. Credit:Facebook We can reveal the mystery woman is Monique Belovukovic, who is from Sydney's eastern suburbs and played junior tennis with Kyrgios.

She was courtside two years ago when Kyrgios won his first title and she has assured friends in Sydney the pair definitely are not together. Which is good, because Kyrgios has a long-term girlfriend. We're told Kyrgios was very generous buying drinks at the nightclub the pair were photographed in front of. Nice work, Wild Thing. Out of Fortune Of all the verbal barbs fired at Jeff Horn by the Pacquiao camp before their world title fight at Suncorp Stadium, the one that angered him the most was the expletive-charged rant from conditioner Justin Fortune. He advised the Brisbane schoolteacher to stay down if he hit the canvas. "Or Manny will really f--- you up," Fortune told Fairfax Media.

At the post-fight after-party at the Treasury Hotel, Horn's conditioner, Dundee Kim, said that story had angered the Horn camp the most. There were a few notable ringside sightings. The great American actor Willem Dafoe made a shock appearance. He's in Australia filming Aquaman. On the opposite side of the ring was NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, who was treating his son Cooper to an 18th birthday experience to remember … while no doubt talking to the Queensland government about future events, including the grand final. Newkie missiles

Well, this is a new one. A coach is usually on death row when his chairman says they "have the full support of the board". Brian McGuigan angered many within the club when he told the Newcastle Herald that Knights coach Nathan Brown had nine matches to avoid the sack. In truth, it won't be McGuigan's call and, according to others in the club, there's next to no chance of it happening. Brown is doing the best he can with limited resources following the Tinkler-Bennett apocalypse. Because the Knights are owned by the NRL, they cannot take a punt on what the salary cap will be in coming years. Souths could and that's why they could entice Dane Gagai away from Newcastle.