{"id":788668,"date":"2026-07-09T07:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/788668\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T07:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:02:13","slug":"state-of-origin-2026-aaron-woods-reignites-feud-with-billy-slater-queensland-maroons-loss-in-game-3-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/788668\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2026: Aaron Woods reignites feud with Billy Slater, Queensland Maroons loss in Game 3, reaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Woods has gleefully reignited his feud with Billy Slater, ripping into the Queensland coach in the aftermath of the Maroons\u2019 shock State of Origin Game 3 loss to NSW<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Slater\u2019s men were shellshocked by an inspired Blues performance, with Wally Lewis Medallist Nathan Cleary\u2019s first half double paving the way for a famous 30-12 win to retake the Origin shield.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n

Woods, who labelled the Maroons legend a \u2018grub\u2019 leading into the 2025 series<\/a>, couldn\u2019t resist the chance to sink the boots in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s hilarious. I love it. Couldn\u2019t have happened to a better person,\u201d the former Blues prop said on Triple M Breakfast. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou were the high-priced favourites, brother!<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what they call the greatest coach, up there with Mal [Meninga] – who\u2019s been beaten by Laurie Daley, who people have said is the worst coach of New South Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods\u2019 feud with the Maroons coach was sparked by the 35-year old calling Slater a \u2018grub\u2019 on radio last year, referring to him kicking Wests Tigers prop John Skandalis in a 2006 NRL match.<\/p>\n

In response, Slater publicly questioned Woods\u2019 right to air his opinions in the media, and was criticised for making a reference to his Maroons coaching predecessor, the late Paul Green.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you degrade someone personally in a derogatory manner, you probably don\u2019t deserve one of those privileged positions that we\u2019re all in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know what people are going through. And although I might be able to handle it, the next person mightn\u2019t be. Maybe our last coach didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE ORIGIN COVERAGE<\/p>\n

QLD RATINGS: Star\u2019s bafflinf Suncorp shocker as breakout star cops reality check<\/a><\/p>\n

NSW RATINGS: Debate over after masterclass as enforcers set stage for ambush<\/a><\/p>\n

‘DISRESPECTFUL!’: Trodden fires back | 03:50<\/p>\n

Leading into the 2026 series, Slater reportedly banned Maroons players from appearing on the Triple M breakfast radio show Woods hosts alongside fellow former NRL player Beau Ryan and Cat Lynch.<\/p>\n

In response, Woods said the 43-year old would just \u201csit and say absolute bulls**t\u201d even if he did agree to an interview with him.<\/p>\n

The 2026 series loss is Slater\u2019s second as Queensland coach since taking the reins in 2021.<\/p>\n

For Woods, the defeat is a damning one for the NRL legend\u2019s coaching credentials given the Maroons came in as heavy favourites \u2013 and he was only too happy to question their famous Queensland spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s won three out of five [series], and the last three series he\u2019s lost two and won one, but he\u2019s lost two at home in Queensland, and he\u2019s lost his last three in a row in Queensland,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a bloke that comes out and says we are Queensland, it seems the side don\u2019t play for him up there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of people reach out from the inner circles of one certain person, saying that he just can\u2019t handle when the pressure\u2019s on him. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s going to be interesting if he wants to coach for 27 rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods also couldn\u2019t disagree more with Slater\u2019s post match comments, in which he blamed a poor Maroons performance for the result and praised his team\u2019s spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just weren\u2019t quite good enough tonight. So we didn\u2019t quite get out best performance out on the field,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t our night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought there was a fair bit of enthusiasm from our team, fair bit of heart and we never gave up.\u201d<\/p>\n

QLD reflect on shock loss at home! | 07:44<\/p>\n

In response, Woods used Hudson Young\u2019s try after the final whistle as an opportunity to tear into Slater again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love hearing people say Billy\u2019s very thorough with his preparation, he watches every game, he knows ins and outs. Wasn\u2019t thorough with the preparation last night, was he?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened? They were down 18-nil!<\/p>\n

\u201cQueensland \u2013 they\u2019re a side that never give up. They let NSW just score that try in the last minute last night.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust watching the press conference, like \u2018It is what it is\u2019 \u2013 what does that bulls**t mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

After a narrow 20-22 loss in Game 1 at Accor Stadium, the Maroons were widely tipped to claim the decider after dishing out a 44-24 thrashing at the MCG in Game 2.<\/p>\n

But the hosts trailed 18-0 by the 30-minute mark at Suncorp Stadium and while they briefly threatened a comeback in the second half, a disallowed Robert Toia try proved a big turning point. <\/p>\n

The Maroons could have reduced the deficit to 24-18 had that try been awarded, but instead the Bunker found Max Plath to be offside in the build-up.<\/p>\n

Woods said Slater should take a leaf out of hooker Harry Grant\u2019s book, who was sensationally called a \u2018cheat\u2019 by legendary former NSW coach Phil Gould in the build-up to Game 3<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved Gus (Gould) coming out and calling Harry Grant a cheat, it was beautiful. But do you know what Harry did? Copped it on the chin,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t have a sook about it, because it\u2019s Origin time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Woods has gleefully reignited his feud with Billy Slater, ripping into the Queensland coach in the aftermath…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-788668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}