State of Origin: Wayne Bennett hasn’t spoken to Tino Fa’asuamaleaui about Payne Haas rivalry

Wayne Bennett admits he has done little to douse the flames of the simmering rivalry between Maroons young gun Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Blues firebrand Payne Haas ahead of Wednesday’s State of Origin decider.

The pair of 20-year-olds traded punches in the second half of the Blues’ 34-10 victory in Origin II.

In an extraordinary post-match rant following Game 2, Bennett blamed the fight on a newspaper article which detailed the pair’s rivalry dating back the schoolboy ranks.

The possibility of a Fa’asuamaleaui-Haas rematch in Origin III has dominated the pre-match discussion after the two behemoths each escaped with a fine for their role in their ANZ Stadium stoush.

MORE: Bennett wages civil war with Smith ahead of Origin decider

And in further evidence his outrageous allegations levelled at the media were a smokescreen to cover the Maroons’ heavy defeat in Sydney, Bennett has conceded he has barely spoken to Fa’asuamaleaui about toning down his aggression in Brsbane.

“I haven’t said much to him actually, at all,” Bennett said.

“He’s not someone you’ve kind of got to talk to a lot.

“He’s pretty well motivated and a a pretty easy to coach guy, he wants to do his best for you.

“He’s 20 years of age and we’ve got a decade of him, that’ll be good hey. Looking forward to that.

“He’s only going to get better and he’s not going to be intimidated by anybody, so let’s get out there and see what happens tomorrow night.”

Meanwhile, Haas vowed not to take a backward step if his ‘good mate’ Fa’asuamaleaui comes looking for Round 2 in the winner-takes-all-decider at Suncorp Stadium.

“I won’t back down, it’s State of Origin, you never back down to anything like that, especially that kind of stuff,” Haas told Channel 9.

“If it ever happens again so if it ever happens again none of my team-mates or me is going to back down.”