"I got along with them really well," Woods said of the Queenslanders. "I didn't really know blokes like Cameron Smith too well. I did a tour with them in '14 but it was a little bit different there. I didn't really know them too well, but they are a great bunch of fellas. As much as it hurts me to say it this time of year, at the end of the day they are just normal blokes. I didn't know Cameron Smith too well or Johnathan Thurston.

"That was the first time I played with Thurston as well. I didn't have a big rap on them at the start but by the end of that tour they were champions. That's the big thing Mal Meninga brought in – we aren't NSW or Queensland, we're Australia. We all bought into it and it was a really enjoyable tour."

But that unity at national level has taken the edge out of a usually hostile Origin build-up. What's happened to the sledging? Where's the animosity? Paul Gallen, Greg Bird and Anthony Watmough must be hearing some of the things coming out of NSW camp wondering what has happened to the culture they helped maintain.

Gallen once used his press conference on the eve of an Origin match to call the Maroons disrespectful – a tactic that helped the Blues win the game in Melbourne the next night.

"Those days are gone, mate," Woods said. "Obviously, NSW hates Queensland and Queensland hates NSW. I don't know what you're trying to say with the hate or you want someone to come out with a big quote or something? It's different.