Former NSW coach Craig Bellamy has accused Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan of lacking common sense in the lead-up to last week's State of Origin decider.
Just a day after former Blues mentor Ricky Stuart claimed the pair should have been banned from selection in 2013, Bellamy said coach Laurie Daley shouldn't be held responsible for their actions.
The NSW Rugby League is investigating claims the two players spent an afternoon at the Lennox Point Hotel on a day off, five days out from last week's loss.
Dugan on Wednesday downplayed his actions to News Corp Australia. While he admitted he "probably made an error in judgement", he insisted they'd only had "lunch and a few beers" and missed no team commitments.
But Bellamy said that didn't matter.
"To me, it's just taking responsibility for yourself and showing some common sense," he said.
"I don't think it's Laurie's job to put common sense into his players and staff."
Stuart also supported Daley.
Dugan and Ferguson were kicked out of Canberra in their early NRL years due to repeated off-field incidents before Stuart's arrival.
"I feel very sorry for Laurie and I feel very sorry for the players that have actually busted themselves over the course of the last series to try and do the right things to try and create a culture," Stuart told Fox Sports.
"Yet again, to be let down by two people who continually let down individuals around them and their teammates."
Stuart pointed to the pair's troublesome night out ahead of Origin II in 2013 as evidence their NSW careers should have ended then.
"Day one of the (second) camp, they both turned up to camp drunk," Stuart said.
"They should have been eliminated from State of Origin there and then and this wouldn't have happened."
The issue has polarised the NRL's most-influential figures, with former Queensland coach Wayne Bennett defending the pair on Wednesday.
Blues teammate Aaron Woods admitted he was disappointed in the duo, as he suggested the team's off-field conduct contributed to their game-three performance.
"Bit disappointed they got on the piss all day but everybody prepares for games differently," Woods told Sky Sports Radio.
"We trained really well all week but it's probably the things that we do away from the training paddock that probably let us down."
Brad Fittler, who could assume the role from Daley next year, said the players' approach had to change.
Fittler is close to Daley and is unwilling to discuss his future until the coach makes a call on his own, but says the players have to ensure they prepare better.
"We've got to work out why that happened and why they thought that that was kosher and what NSW players should be doing," Fittler said.
"Whether you call that culture, poor choices, whatever it is, we need to be better."
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