Paul Gallen was labelled disrespectful by the Maroons for turning his back on Cameron Smith while accepting the State of Origin shield this year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the Melbourne Storm skipper insists there will be no lingering effects of Gallen's decision when the State of Origin captains square off in Sunday's NRL grand final in Sydney.
The Queenslanders were furious with Gallen and his Blues, who chose to turn away from the post-game speech in response to the lack of respect shown by the Maroons to their retiring skipper during the final game of the series.
NSW won that game but lost the series, however the major talking point after the match was Gallen.
Smith has revealed ahead of the decider at ANZ Stadium that the Sharks veteran called him to clear the air after Origin III, with the hooker accepting his reasons for his snubbing of the Maroons.
"I've spoken to Gal about that. We've discussed it and moved on," Smith said after Saturday night's preliminary final victory against the Raiders at AAMI Park.
"At the time it was an issue for a few of us. He explained to me what happened. I'm happy with that explanation. There is not going to be anything from State of Origin lingering around. He contacted me to clear it up because there was a fair bit of talk in the days after that Origin.
"He explained to me what happened and I was happy with his explanation. We've moved on. We've played each other since then. It's all good. We've all explained what we thought on the night. It was disappointing for us. We've moved on. It's been a long time now. I'm not concerned with it."
Gallen has enormous respect for Smith, despite them spending the best part of a decade going to war for their rival states.
They have a strong relationship when they come together for Australia, but Gallen has yearned for the success Smith has achieved throughout his career.
But after 16 years Gallen finally gets his crack at winning a premiership, an achievement the Storm skipper was happy his counterpart had reached.
"I'm extremely happy for Gal. He gets an opportunity to play in the grand final," Smith said.
"He has never experienced this before. It's a shame it happens in all codes that guys put so much of their life into a sport and don't even get the opportunity to be in grand final. Gal is fortunate enough to be in a side that has played well this year. He now has that opportunity to play in a grand final.
"Their club has not won a grand final yet. They will be very happy in the shire. For us that's all nice during the week, being happy for guys, but come game day it's not about anyone wearing a Sharks jersey. It's going to be about the guys wearing purple and getting the job done."
