"It's always tough, things end up getting to you," Blair said of the criticism.
"When the times were tough I just got away from thinking about footy, just to clear my mind of watching footy, reading papers.
"Even having footy apps on my phone, I got rid of all that stuff, even got rid of Twitter.
"Those things get to you and as soon as I got rid of all those things I switched back on to what I need to do for myself."
It was the same sort of distance from rugby league he enjoyed in Melbourne, where the code struggles for attention.
"You barely watch any football [in Melbourne], don't get any Friday night games," Blair said.
"A lot of people down there have families and you get to go home and spend time with them and just take your mind off footy."
Never a big statistic man, Blair has produced his best two games for the club over the past fortnight, running for 140m and 123m in wins over Canberra and Melbourne after being switched to prop.
"It's a completely different position playing in the front row, a simpler job," Blair said.
"In this team you just carry the ball forward and work hard in defence.
"I'm a big team player and sometimes people don't see that on the outside.
"Maybe I don't get that much credit for it but I know myself I do everything I can for my mates."
- AAP
