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Billy Slater has not been coaching long, but Darius Boyd has been left in awe by the Maroons coach’s ability to unlock key players in the representative arena in a way that he has not seen before.
Slater has held the top job for the Maroons since 2022 and handed a number of young stars their chance to make a statement in State of Origin.
Jojo Fifita and Robert Toia embrace at full time. Cameron Spencer
Robert Toia most notably turned heads last season after making his Maroons debut after featuring in 10 first grade games with the Roosters.
This season, the form revival of Selwyn Cobbo has stolen the headlines, with Boyd tipping that the Dolphins gun could win the Wally Lewis Medal this year.
If Boyd’s feeling is to come true, it would be a remarkable turnaround for Cobbo given a year ago, he was dropped by the Broncos to the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.
Cobbo has attracted plenty of praise, but Boyd said other Maroons had also stepped up to play inspiring football at representative level.
In particular, Boyd was impressed by the newfound confidence of Jojo Fifita.
The 23-year-old has been trying to prove his worth in the NRL since defecting from rugby, always keeping the door ajar to make the switch back if things are not to work out the way he hoped.
Boyd believes the Origin arena has brought him the confidence he truly needed to be comfortable with himself as a rising star.
“He needed that little bit of confidence to do something,” Boyd said on Wide World of Sports’ QLDER.
“Billy instils that confidence and belief that you can do this in this arena.
“For him to score a try (in game two), I think he’d go, ‘well this is my time now, I deserve to be in this arena and mix it with the best’.
“I’m sure we will see him improve and have a better performance in game three.”
Trent Leioro was another player Boyd believes Slater has unlocked perfectly in the representative arena, describing him as a “true Origin player”.
He then pointed to the unsung hero for the Maroons in Toia, who has settled into the side comfortably after just five representative appearances.
“He is quite calm … he never looks like he has even dropped sweat off his head,” Boyd said of Toia, “he has been so good for Queensland.”
With few changes expected to be made leading into the series decider, Boyd recognised that Slater’s men will be hopeful NSW keep their bizarre bench.
“I think the problem was, they had (Api) Koroisau and (Ethan) Strange who then limit the forward rotations,” he said of Laurie Daley’s bench selection.
“There was always going to be a challenge there, I think that’s why there were talks about having Strange in the centres if Moses is in the halves.
“That’s their problem. Hopefully, they don’t make those same mistakes next time.”