Anika Wells missed the State of Origin due to a Telstra issue, while executives avoided NRL's VIP suite amid controversy.
There will come a time when we don't begin every account of a big sports event discussing Anika Wells - but not yet.
Up-ending our prediction after Game 2, the normally Brisbane-based federal Sports Minister was not in NRL chair Peter V'landys' VIP suite for the showdown of the pinnacle of rugby league: State of Origin.
A nationwide cock-up by Telstra, a stakeholder in Minister Wells' other portfolio, Communications, had her breaking leave on Wednesday to fly to Canberra - far away from Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
It can be a cruel world, although this week we would rather be Wells than any executive at Telstra. Little wonder the executive class of the NRL's telco sponsor kept well away from V'landys' suite on Wednesday night.
With chief financial officer Michael Ackland running the joint, and CEO Vicki Brady finishing the last few days of her holiday, the telco obviously couldn't spare the bodies.