MAROONS legend Darren Lockyer has defended the decision to award Billy Slater the Origin Man of the series stating the champion fullback was significantly ahead of any Blues player on voting points.

Lockyer was one of three judges for the Wally Lewis Medal along with Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga.

Both fans and pundits alike have expressed their bewilderment after Slater won the award despite playing just two games in a series-losing side.

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“The system is after every game, myself, Laurie and Mal independently give our 4-3-2-1 votes of the game and that decides the man-of-the-match,” Lockyer said on Channel 9’s Footy Show.

“So Game One was James Tedesco, Game Two was Boyd Cordner and last night was Billy Slater. Now all the points that were given to all the series and then tallied up and they’re given to us at the end of the third game as a guide to then select a man of the series.

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“We’re not going to disclose everyone’s points but the gap between Billy and the next person was quite significant, and we had to make a call that if we were going to give it to Bill.

Billy Slater celebrates with the Wally lewis Medal Source: News Corp Australia

“But we thought the gap was significant enough to then award the medal to Billy.

“We were sure that that wasn’t always going to be popular, particularly below the border but we’ve got to live by that decision and we’ll stand by it.”

Lockyer, however, admitted a review of the process may be needed

“We want to get to a point where the system is fair and honest, which I think it is now, but can it be done a little bit better, possibly. I think a review by the NRL will be a good thing,” he said.

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“There’s not a lot of time between after the game to when the ceremony is on. You’ve got to think pretty quickly.

“But what I think we’ll learn from this is that it can be done better. It’s a bit of a shame that it’s taken the gloss off the game and Billy but I think it can be done better, but at the same time the three of us stand by our decision.”

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg yesterday refused to release the breakdown of the voting but said the league would consider changing the voting mechanism.

“The way it’s described to me is there was a stand-out performer in one side, being Queensland, which is Billy Slater who collected a number of votes,” Greenberg told reporters on Thursday in Brisbane.

“And in NSW votes were spread among multiple players who performed well across the series.”

Asked if the outcome highlighted shortcomings in the system, Greenberg said: “Potentially, yes. Which is why if we have to review it, we’ll have a look at it.

“If there’s a better system we can look at, we’re always open to it. We review everything at the end of an Origin series, so I’m sure that will be part of it.

“But what you can’t question is the integrity of the three people making the decision, and you can’t question the capacity they have to judge that themselves as three people who played the game at the highest level.”

NSW coach Brad Fittler suggested Slater may have received the medal in recognition of his achievements in an Origin career dating back 15 years. “I can live with him taking away a medal but it was more than for this series,” Fittler said.

Asked who he thought deserved it, Fittler said: “Tom Trbojevic was pretty outstanding I thought across the three games. He was my pick.”