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Extract from the book:
WHEN A KING TRUMPED A QUEEN
Another Steve Walters’ ‘victory’ …
The hooker was asked to represent rugby league during one of the familiar ‘battles of the football codes’ before a huge audience in Brisbane, conducted while the British Lions were in Australia.
Going head to head to win the argument of why each code was the best were Walters, soccer’s Robbie Slater, AFL’s Alastair Lynch and former British Lions and England rugby captain Martin Johnson.
Johnson had the chair and looked down his nose to declared in his proper English voice that one advantage rugby had over then other codes was that when they won the World Cup (in 2003) they had a parade through London in front of a million people and got to meet and have tea with the Queen, Elizabeth II. It earned jeers of contempt from the predominantly working class, league loving crowd.
Walters snatched the microphone and responded, quick as a flash, with: “Yeah but if you play State of Origin for Queensland you get to have a beer with The King after every match!” – in reference, of course, to the King of Origin, Wally Lewis. The one line brought the maroons-coloured house down.