Lindsay Collins has taken responsibility for Queensland’s 14th man bungle and played down suggestions he had earned bragging rights over club captain James Tedesco by outjumping the NSW fullback to lay on the winning Origin try.
Collins went from villain to hero in Wednesday night's 26-18 triumph after being called on to replace injured forward Tom Gilbert in the 18th minute - only for the second-rower returned to the field following treatment on the sideline.
As a result, Queensland had 14 players on the field for three tackles and a confused Collins made a hit-up during that period before referee Ashley Klein awarded a penalty to NSW, and Gilbert left the field with a dislocated shoulder.
“I think I probably jumped the gun a little bit there,” Collins told NRL.com. “I saw him on the sideline, out of the field [of play], and then I sort of just chucked the [interchange] card and ran on.
“Obviously I should have waited a little bit because when we were out there, I saw him come back on.
“It was probably just communication and probably just my eagerness to get out there."
The NRL is considering what action to take over the transgression but there is no suggestion the result of the match will be overturned, with South Sydney recently fined $15,000 for a similar incident three weeks ago.
Most interchange blunders are detected after the game but match officials quickly noticed Queensland had 14 players on the field after Gilbert ran back on and Klein whistled a penalty.
Lindsay Collins you magician
“I knew what the penalty was for and I was a bit disappointed in myself, just for giving them cheap possession," Collins said.
However, Collins redeemed himself late in the match when he soared over Tedesco – the Roosters, Blues and Kangaroos captain – for a Daly Cherry-Evans kick before passing to Cameron Munster to score a 77th minute try.
Maroons teammates later joked that Collins could move from the front-row to fullback but the Test prop said he didn’t plan to gee up Tedesco over the incident when they returned to Roosters training.
“I was just doing my job for my team and that was what was required,” he said. “Origin is made of moments and you have got to take them and we did that.
“I just had to make sure I was onside because I was going down to tackle [Tedesco] and then it felt like no one was going up for the ball, so I decided to try my luck and I came down with it. Munster was screaming so I just passed him the ball.
“We practice it a little bit every now and then but not religiously. It was more just backing myself.”
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After his role in Australia’s World Cup winning campaign in England last year, Collins said he had grown in confidence and the bond developed by the 10 Queenslanders in the Kangaroos squad came to the forefront in Origin.
With wingers Selwyn Cobbo (hip) and Murray Taulagi (HIA) joining Gilbert on the sideline and Thomas Flegler being sent to the sin bin 12 minutes from full-time, the Maroons had to dig deep to overcome an 18-16 deficit.
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“Our backs were against the wall, and we just needed to hang in there and we did,” Collins said.
“We've had a good crew here for the last two years and are starting something new with Billy as our coach.
“We've had a couple of camps now together and a couple of us were on tour together at the end of last year and all the bonds is getting tighter and tighter.
“The other thing that's building for us is the trust in our players and the trust to do our jobs.
“Everyone knew their role and then the boys that had to go into different roles knew what they had to do, and they executed.
"It should have been chaotic but it wasn’t. We are trying to start something special here and I’m looking forward to what we can do.”