{"id":43409,"date":"2026-07-03T04:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/43409\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T04:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:50:21","slug":"nsw-enforcer-wont-back-down-on-return-to-brisbane-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/43409\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW enforcer ‘won’t back down’ on return to Brisbane"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW’s Haumole Olakau’atu “won’t back down” from any State of Origin brawling as he returns to the site of the infamous 2024 decider.<\/p>\n

Olakau’atu was forced to watch the Blues lift the Origin shield from the tunnel at Suncorp Stadium after being sin-binned for his role in the game-three melee two years ago.<\/p>\n

The second-rower attracted particular scrutiny for becoming involved, given he was on the sidelines as a reserve rather than a member of the game-day team.<\/p>\n

\"Haumole\"<\/p>\n

Haumole Olakau’atu enters a sideline melee while 18th man in the 2024 State of Origin decider. (Dave Hunt\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

He and fellow NSW forward Cameron Murray each received two-game bans for their roles in the scuffle, and both return to Brisbane for next Wednesday’s decider.<\/p>\n

“It definitely happened fast,” Olakau’atu said of the 2024 melee.<\/p>\n

“It’s not something I want to do again but if it happens again, I won’t back down.<\/p>\n

“I’m glad it’s over, it’s in the past. It’s something I won’t ever do again, hopefully.”<\/p>\n

The 2026 decider marks Olakau’atu’s first time playing an Origin game at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

Olakau’atu was a controversial omission from the Blues’ hefty game-two loss but is set to earn a fourth Origin cap starting from the bench in jersey No.16.<\/p>\n

The 2024 experience has given the 27-year-old some idea of what to expect behind enemy lines.<\/p>\n

“It’ll be a very emotional night next Wednesday,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s just like a back-against-the-wall type feeling. You’re against all odds, given where you’re playing at. It’s just cool because you just have your brothers and that to back you.<\/p>\n

“It’s a pretty surreal feeling.”<\/p>\n

The 2024 scuffle ended with nine players charged, seven of those paying fines that totalled $21,800.<\/p>\n

Current Blues captain Isaah Yeo, who came off the bench that night, said the melee was a “cool moment”.<\/p>\n

\"Yeo\"<\/p>\n

Isaah Yeo (centre) regards the 2024 melee as a ‘cool moment.’ (AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“It just shows the passion of Origin, particularly in a decider up there, anywhere, to be fair. Everything’s heightened,” the Penrith co-captain said.<\/p>\n

“Emotions are heightened, and that trickles not just to the players on the field but everyone on the benches as well and the staff. Cool moment.”<\/p>\n

The Blues will hope history can repeat on the scoreboard come Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

The 2024 decider marked one of only three game-three deciders won by NSW at Suncorp Stadium, from 13 attempts.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had some good nights there, I’ve had some not so good nights there,” Yeo said.<\/p>\n

“Ultimately that’s what Origin is about, it’s the ultimate rollercoaster. I’d much prefer it to be high than low.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NSW’s Haumole Olakau’atu “won’t back down” from any State of Origin brawling as he returns to the site…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99,33671,596,33672,3771,11151],"class_list":["post-43409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brisbane","tag-brisbane","tag-haumole-olakau","tag-nsw","tag-origin-game","tag-state-of-origin","tag-suncorp-stadium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}