Sailor cops Queensland hostility

Rarely has an Australian sportsman copped such a sustained crowd caning as the man Queenslanders now love to hate - Wendell Sailor.

Almost 40,000 Suncorp Stadium fans unleashed an unbridled show of contempt on Saturday when Queensland-born and Queensland-raised Sailor returned to Brisbane proudly wearing the sky blue colours of the NSW Waratahs.

They booed him when he came out for a warm-up and they jeered even louder when his face flashed up on the electronic scoreboard during the player introductions.

Throughout the match, sections of the crowd took turns at chanting "Wendell's a wanker" towards the man reviled for turning his back on the Reds.

Although Sailor never really won over Reds supporters during his time at Ballymore, there was a strong sense of betrayal about the defection of a Queenslander who had also played 17 league State of Origin games.

Rather than ignore the barbs of the Reds supporters, Sailor reacted to the abuse throughout the match and showed a distinct lack of class when he gave Queensland fans the bird after the Waratahs scored the match-winning try.

- AAP