Outgoing Queensland playmaker Johnathan Thurston has stuck the boot into NSW's culture in the wake of coach Laurie Daley's axing.
The NSWRL board on Friday opted not to renew Daley's contract after Queensland came from one-nil down to clinch what appeared to be an unwinnable series.
Daley's leadership was questioned after it was revealed Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson were drinking at a Lennox Head pub just five days out from the State of Origin decider.
The NSWRL have been forced to defend their decision not to put the players on a tighter leash on their day off.
Thurston, who only played game two of the series because of a shoulder injury and has retired from representative football, said the Dugan-Ferguson incident showed a lack of respect and leadership.
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"We get put in the same situation as well with Kevvie (Walters) and Mal (Meninga) before him, where on our days off they trusted us to do the right thing and basically treated us like adults," Thurston told Triple M.
"With that trust, it's a mutual respect between the coaching staff and the players.
"That's the difference in the culture, I believe when the coaching staff give you those days off you do it in the right way and in the right manner.
"Some of the boys will go play golf, some of the boys go sit at a cafe or whatever.
"But certainly we're not on the piss five days out from a game."
