As the young forward lay motionless on the ground with a serious injury, opposition players celebrated by high fiving each other and one even ran in to tell him to get up.

The tackler on this occasion was Alex McKinnon and the injured player was Melbourne's Jordan McLean, who had to be assisted from the field with a broken jaw caused by the sickening head clash.

There was no malice or intent in the incident but Knights team-mates Neville Costigan, Chris Houston and Beau Scott all congratulated McKinnon as McLean lay unconscious, while Joey Leilua raced in from his position at left centre and leaned over the Storm prop to scream abuse at him.

Video footage of the incident in the 2013 finals series was sent to this columnist in the wake of Sunday night's 60 Minutes program in which McKinnon and his family were highly critical of the way the Melbourne captain Cameron Smith acted after the tackle by McLean in last season's round three match that has left McKinnon in a wheel chair.

The reason for reporting it is not to diminish McKinnon's right to feel the way he does towards Smith but to highlight how players caught up in the emotion of the game are often unaware of the seriousness of an injury to an opponent while on the field.

Take for example, NSW frontrower Justin Poore picking up an unconscious Steve Price by his jersey in Game III of the 2009 series and immediately dropping him to the ground amid wild scenes at Suncorp Stadium.

Poore later apologised and said that he didn't know why he had picked Price up after he had been knocked out by Blues prop Brett White. When he realised he shouldn't have done so he let him go, which only made things look worse and prompted Maroons players - including Smith - to vow revenge in the following year's series.

Former Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett said after the Leilua incident that he had reprimanded the Samoa centre, adding: "It just happens sometimes. We can all be very selective".

While members of the Queensland camp are seething that the story has come out on the eve of Wednesday night's Origin decider, sources close to Smith said the Maroons and Australian captain had adopted the attitude that no one else knew the pain experienced by McKinnon and his family so they were entitled to feel the way they did.

However, Fairfax Media was told that Smith is upset 60 Minutes did not ask him for his side of the story and Channel Nine should not expect him to agree to any interview requests from the broadcasters before, during or after Origin III at Suncorp Stadium.

After the ugly lifting tackle by McLean and the Bromwich brothers, Jesse and Kenny, which has left McKinnon paralysed from his chest down, Smith initially accepted the verdict of referee Gerard Sutton, who said: "Lifting, he [McLean] has put him in a dangerous spot, mate".

But after watching replays on the big screen at AAMI Park, Smith again approached Sutton to argue that the tackle had gone wrong because McKinnon "ducked his head" but was told to "go away".

Even Knights forward Willie Mason seemed unaware of the seriousness of the injury to McKinnon at that time, and was warned by Sutton for trying to kick the ball from Smith's feet.

"Willie, Willie, forget the ball. At this stage mate you are not in trouble but if you go mucking around there you could be," Sutton told Mason.

As Scott took issue with Smith over his attempt to defend McLean,  Mason yelled at the rookie prop (McLean): "You got knocked out in the semis."

The game was stopped for more than eight minutes and as the players looked on, Fox Sports commentator Warren Smith said: "You can see the obvious concern on the face of Cameron Smith, who is standing there and looking at what is happening in front of him. We are very much hoping this is nothing more than a precaution".

Melbourne second-rower Ryan Hoffman spoke with Smith several times during the stoppage and after McKinnon was assisted from the field by trainers and medical staff from both clubs, the Storm captain again approached Sutton to argue against the penalty.

"We have had two lifting tackles against us and our boys were put in more dangerous positions than that," Smith said. "It is unfortunate and I don't want to see that happen at any time in our game but if he doesn't duck his head that doesn't happen so how can you penalise that."

Smith later supported McKinnon by launching the Rise for Alex round during last year's Origin series and wore his No.16 jersey at the game in Melbourne which raised more than $20,000 for the campaign.