I was there for Daley’s first strategy meeting. Slater was already stalking the Blues

10 hours ago 4

When incoming NSW coach Laurie Daley convened a phone hook-up meeting from Sydney to determine his strategy for 2025, including a motivational theme, the Blues’ team manager, Frank Ponissi, and I were on the other end of the call in an office at the Melbourne Storm’s headquarters. An hour later, we walked from the room – only to see Queensland coach Billy Slater stationed less than ten metres away.

The Blues did win the first game. But afterwards, you’d swear Slater had been stalking NSW. In an era when NRL coaches are hidebound conservative, Slater has proved to be a rugby league revolutionary.

He abandoned the Maroons’ proud pick-and-stick philosophy, replacing his state’s long-serving captain with Wednesday night’s man of the match, Tom Dearden. He benched his two best forwards from the game one and selected two inexperienced centres to match NSW’s stellar pair of Stephen Crichton and Latrell Mitchell.

He recalled two forwards who had been dumped from the Queensland team years before and, just when everyone assumed Broncos wunderkind Reece Walsh would be selected at fullback in place of the injured Kalyn Ponga, moved Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to the position.

He chose Cameron Munster as captain, despite the Melbourne five eighth being deputy to hooker Harry Grant at their club. And after all that, Queensland pulled off an emphatic 24-12 victory on the Blues’ home turf. NSW changed nothing, other than one replacement due to injury, and did not challenge themselves.

The Maroons won everywhere at Accor Stadium – even with the trainers. As NSW winger Zac Lomax returned to the halfway line after converting NSW’s first try, there was no kick-off tee. Where could it be? Queensland trainer Allan “Alf” Langer feigned surprise before finally discovering it near his feet on the sideline.

Cameron Munster and Tom Dearden with the Origin shield.

On match eve, the Blues held another meeting. Their coaching and support staff assembled at a hotel away from NSW team headquarters, seated in a horseshoe shape in an upstairs room, with Daley in the middle.

Ponissi asked each to describe what they wanted to see happen in the Origin decider. Some nominated Nathan Cleary consolidating his position in Origin folklore; another pair volunteered they were looking to see Mitchell finally rip a game apart, while tall Paul Sironen, still savouring the memories of his playing days, was longing for the ululant roar of the crowd of 80,000 as the players ran onto the field. Daley said he wanted the team’s preparation – the best of the three-game series – to translate to a near perfect performance.

Only Sirro got what he wanted. A hopeful roar from the crowd went up, seeming to echo back to those empty years when Queensland dominated. But they had little else to cheer. Mitchell occasionally showcased his silky hands and dancer’s feet, but Cleary was below par. Perhaps he is still restricted by an injury, yet the Blues insist he trained well. On Wednesday morning, he ate breakfast alone at a café away from team headquarters. Maybe his mood was “something about Mary.”

While Slater discarded the Maroons’ pick-and-stick ethos, he embraced their time-honoured underdog mentality. Desperate to expunge the foul taste of last year’s series defeat, Slater did what all Queenslanders do when they lose to NSW. They draw inspiration from the single greatest weapon in their arsenal: the log-sized chip on their shoulder about NSW arrogance.

Billy Slater embraces former Swans AFL star Lance Franklin.

As Queensland chief executive Ben Ikin said: “When we get beaten up, we delve into history and find an emotional trigger that fires up our underdog spirit.”

So, it being 30 years since “Fatty’s Neville Nobodies” won 3-0 during the Super League war, the year of this unlikely achievement – 1995 – was sewn into the sleeve of the Queensland jumpers. Slater also had their official training jumpers made to replicate the 1995 playing strip.

And, just as the 1995 team did when playing against a team of superior skill, the 2025 Maroons outworked NSW on Wednesday night. They defended, chased and kicked better than the Blues, restricting NSW to two second half tries, despite Daley’s men dominating possession and field position. Sure, the Maroons were rarely back ten metres in defence and the Blues were denied the repeat sets they deserved.

So what was Slater doing outside Ponissi’s office on that day back in early April? He is employed by the Storm one day a week, and was speaking to a visiting referee.

Some will use as evidence of rugby league’s insularity the fact the Storm’s manager, Ponissi, and coach, Craig Bellamy, were on the Blues side with the Queensland coach employed as their assistant.

But it is also the game’s passionate strength. The Storm’s four Queensland players and NSW’s single representative, flanked by Bellamy and Ponissi, had a photo taken post game, exactly halfway between the rival dressing rooms.

Origin’s existing format of three games over six weeks is also perfect for the times: short enough to give every game a certain urgency but long enough for emotions and tensions to build to a crescendo and produce genuine rivalry.

With a game in late May, another in June and the last match in July, the series’ stellar viewing figures mean Channel Nine, the publishers of this masthead, win the TV ratings for three months. As negotiations for the next broadcasting deal loom, the code’s administrators flirt with this format at their peril.

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