When the rest of the rugby league world was tuning in, Cameron Smith was doing everything he could to zone out. All around him, one of the biggest sporting storms of the year was crackling into life. He was right in its path.
Smith was in camp with the Queensland team at their Sanctuary Cove base on the Gold Coast when 60 Minutes went to air last July. With its gated mansions and manicured golf courses, the gentrified country club setting couldn't have been more of a contrast to the maelstrom engulfing Smith in the outside world.
At the start of the evening, the Kangaroos and Maroons skipper was one of his sport's most-respected figures; a record-breaker and a statesman of the game that would propel him to stardom. By its end, he would be cast as a villain in one of its saddest chapters.
Now Smith, for the first time, has opened up about how he dealt with the fallout from the Alex McKinnon story, his relationship with the former Knights forward and how Queensland rallied around their captain, with the Blues being the unfortunate fall guys in an historic game-three drubbing three nights later.
A number of the Queensland players and officials chose to watch the controversial 60 Minutes episode last year, in which Smith was lashed by a furious McKinnon, now in a wheelchair after being paralysed in a tackle against the Melbourne Storm.
Smith wasn't one of them, although he knew it was on the way. In the story, presented by Liz Hayes, he was portrayed as callous and uncaring, arguing with referees as McKinnon lay stricken on the ground before being carried off the field by concerned medical staff. Nobody at the show felt it necessary to get Smith's side of the story.
Cameron Smith and Alex McKinnon
It prompted a complete freeze in relations between Smith and the network, which only thawed on Wednesday night when Smith travelled to Sydney for The Footy Show and was given an apology by Paul Vautin, although he had nothing to do with the original piece.
With that chapter now complete, Smith has spoken about how he tried to insulate himself from the bitter saga as the scope of his actions became the centre of a fierce national debate. He also revealed how the pressure helped focus Queensland as they produced an almost perfect game to demolish the Blues 52-6.
"It was tough, there's no doubt," Smith said. "I didn't watch the program. I think that was the right decision. I just didn't think I needed to get caught up in it. I'd obviously heard about it from my family and friends; a couple of the boys watched it, too. A few of them chose not to watch it.
"For me, my focus was just on the team. I spoke to the boys about that. I just wanted to reassure them that I was OK. Whatever was said about me was said ... I had no control about that. We had no control about anyone's opinions after the program had aired.
"In a way, that probably steeled us a lot more for that match. The boys were very focused from that day on with our preparation and what we wanted to do in our game. My job, for the team and for the jersey and the people of Queensland, was to have a good preparation and play well that night. That's where my focus was."
Smith said he was always comfortable with his actions on that evening in Melbourne and never felt he had crossed the line with his conduct as he spoke to referees soon after McKinnon's injury, then again after he had been taken from the field 15 minutes later.
The 60 Minutes program would later be questioned about editing that appeared to portray Smith as arguing constantly with referees while McKinnon was attended to on the turf.
"No [I didn't fear it would stain my reputation] because I knew what actually happened that night," Smith said. "I was confident in myself ... I was happy where the situation was at personally.
"From early days in my career, I've come to the realisation that not everyone has a good opinion of you ... some people like you, some people are going to have a high opinion of you, some aren't. For whatever reason, I can't control that. Anything I can't control, I don't concern myself with, I don't let it upset me.
"I feel lucky to have that type of personality. Some other people can't let those things go ... I can."
Smith and McKinnon have since spoken, with the contents of that discussion to remain private. But Smith said he felt they had resolved any issues and questioned whether there was a genuine difference of opinion in the first place.
"I had a conversation [with Alex], but I'll keep that between he and I," Smith said. "People don't need to know about that. It just provides an opportunity to create issues again.
"We've sorted through any sort of differences ... if there even was differences ... we've had a conversation and from my end, I'm certainly happy with where things are at."
