Henjak blasts NSW over Wallace affair - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Henjak blasts NSW over Wallace affair

By Todd Balym 29/06/2009 06:18:23 AM Comments (0)

Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak has launched a scathing attack on the NSW team claiming they left Peter Wallace hanging out to dry from the first day he entered camp for State of Origin II.

A furious Henjak defended his club's young halfback on Sunday as Wallace yet again played 80 minutes with broken ribs as the Broncos fell to their fourth straight NRL defeat in a 21-14 loss to Parramatta.

Wallace unwittingly carried broken ribs into the 24-14 Origin II defeat but endured a nightmare camp, under pressure immediately after coach Craig Bellamy publicly condemned his Origin I performance.

Henjak was livid that the 23-year-old was not given any support by the Blues and is now being made scapegoat for their woeful performance.

"It started from the day he walked into camp," said Henjak on Sunday.

"They were just into him the whole time. He had no support whatsoever come from anyone in that camp. He just had to wear it all himself and I just thought it was grossly unfair.

"He is a tremendous guy, a tremendous player and he tried his heart out there in that Origin game and he did again today.

"He has got more character than a lot of the other people that should have been supporting him.

"He's not going to whinge and complain about it and make excuses about it. He wore it on the chin and gets on with life ... someone needs to stick up for him.

"I would like to see some of the blokes giving him a bake play with the injury."

Asked if he was speaking about the NSW coach, Henjak replied :"I'm not going to name anyone, they all know who they are."

Meanwhile, Henjak has concerns of his own as his NRL club's fourth straight loss has dropped them outside the top eight for the first time in 2009.

After three hammerings in a row, Henjak was at least buoyed by their commitment in the narrow defeat to the Eels but he has major injury worries.

Apart from Wallace's ribs, prop Nick Kenny will miss several weeks with a medial knee ligament strain while fullback Karmichael Hunt sustained an ankle injury which required pain-killing injections at half-time.

Already without Test stars Israel Folau (sternum) and Justin Hodges (knee), the Broncos desperately need a swing in fortune to salvage a fading season.

"If we can keep playing like that with that attitude and get some troops back ... if we can get some consistency there we can turn things around," said Henjak.

"I thought today was a big leap forward for us from where we've been the last three weeks." A surprising 24-16 loss by Melbourne in Canberra on Sunday has given St George Illawarra, Bulldogs and the Gold Coast a mortgage on a top four finish.

The Dragons beat the Wests Tigers 21-10 and the Bulldogs humbled North Queensland 30-18 on Friday, while the Gold Coast defeated the Warriors 28-12 on Saturday.

The trio now sit well clear at the top of the table on 24 points, with Melbourne fourth on 21.

North Queensland, Newcastle, Manly, Penrith and Brisbane are tied on 18 points, the Knights able to move into outright fourth against South Sydney on Monday night.

Parramatta climbed level with the Rabbitohs and Warriors but remain in 12th with their points differential, while the Sydney Roosters also didn't move with a 19-12 win over Cronulla but at least closed the gap on 15th place as they fight to avoid the club's first wooden spoon since 1966.

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