{"id":743900,"date":"2026-06-18T06:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/743900\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T06:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:22:18","slug":"images-show-biggest-lose-daley-is-on-borrowed-time-as-nsw-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/743900\/","title":{"rendered":"Images show \u2018biggest lose\u2019 Daley is on borrowed time as NSW coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The prosecutors in the court of public opinion have all the evidence they need to nail Laurie Daley to a wall. <\/p>\n<p>The NSW legend has surged well past Nathan Cleary as the lightning rod for criticism following Queensland\u2019s State of Origin slaughter in Game 2 in Melbourne on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Post mortems always make mountains out of mole hills, but on the back of a comprehensive coaching lesson from Maroons coach Billy Slater at the MCG, the torches are being lit before the Raiders icon has a chance to defend himself in the series decider at Suncorp Stadium on July 8.<\/p>\n<p>Almost all of Daley\u2019s biggest calls blew up in his face on Wednesday \u2014 and the reaction from maligned Blues fans has been brutal. <\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/?extcamp=ncaeditoriallink-ptr-nca-lnk-awr-acq-var-kyo&amp;channel=nca&amp;campaign=editorial\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The most obvious criticism surrounds Daley\u2019s interchange jumble which saw livewire hooker Api Koroisau ride the pine for 80 minutes. <\/p>\n<p>Fox League\u2019s Andrew Voss was questioning when Daley was going to inject the Tigers rake as early as the 15th minute after Queensland\u2019s strong start to the game. <\/p>\n<p>Other commentators were even more blunt. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"poster-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7b933ec3b15477db5e7a71174cd3e7a6.jpeg\" data-sctrack=\"op-poster-img\" alt=\"Joey demands change for Origin decider\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Koroisau was hailed in the lead-up to the game as NSW&#8217;s secret weapon to unsettle Queensland and many would have injected the crafty hooker into the game with at least half an hour remaining. It was a baffling call not to use Koroisau given starting No. 9 Reece Robson looked exhausted. <\/p>\n<p>Another gripe will be the fact Ethan Strange played just 17 minutes in Game 2 after dominating his Origin debut in Game 1, while Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses struggled to create attacking opportunities. <\/p>\n<p>The halves combination of Cleary and Moses combined for 19 missed tackles<\/p>\n<p>The heavy defeat saw Daley break an unwanted record, becoming the coach who has lost the most games in Origin history. <\/p>\n<p>Daley passed Wayne Bennett, losing 12 Origin games in his two stints in charge as NSW coach. His only series triumph in six campaigns was the drought breaking victory back in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>His selections have been heavily criticised, specifically the forward pack and the use, or lack thereof, of his interchange bench. <\/p>\n<p>There are calls for Isaah Yeo to move to the bench so Cameron Murray can start at lock, while Warriors forward Jackson Ford could replace Fonua-Blake, who has been underwhelming with his limited opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Second-row star Haumole Olakau\u2019atu, who was dropped in favour of debutant Dylan Lucas, also has plenty of support to be re-called for the decider. <\/p>\n<p>Victor Radley gave away two penalties for high tackles and dropped the ball when NSW was deep in attack. <\/p>\n<p>Brian To\u2019o looked vulnerable under the high ball \u2014 again. The biggest questions surround the use of the NSW bench.<\/p>\n<p>It was a similar situation in Game 1 when Jacob Saifiti also sat out the game on the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Daley appeared out of answers in the second half of the series opener when Queensland led 20-6 before Kalyn Ponga has sent off for his shoulder charge on Tolutau Koula. <\/p>\n<p>More than one commentator has come forward to say the Ponga decision is the only reason Daley still has his job, since it proved the spark to the Blues\u2019 historic comeback while the Maroons had just 12 players on the field.<\/p>\n<p>Code Sports Brent Read said at the time Cleary\u2019s masterclass following Ponga\u2019s send off potentially saved Daley\u2019s job. <\/p>\n<p>It was reported by the <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/this-is-laurie-daley-s-tony-popovic-moment-it-s-likely-one-of-his-last-as-a-coach-20260616-p6074r.html\" title=\"www.smh.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SMH<\/a> this week that win or lose, this will be Daley\u2019s final series as coach. <\/p>\n<p>Daley is a fighter. A smiling assassin. A good bloke, who has forgotten more about rugby league than most will ever know \u2014 but it\u2019s impossible not to think he is done. <\/p>\n<p>The constant barrage of criticism is undignified for a person who has given so much to his state \u2014 and fighting through the mud may simply be too much for the 56-year-old. <\/p>\n<p>Leading NRL journos Michael Carayannis and Read were scathing of Daley\u2019s performance when speaking on <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.codesports.com.au\/nrl\/laurie-daley-slammed-for-diabolical-coaching-as-blues-capitulate-in-origin-loss\/news-story\/a6446ba5ea3af89f66c9f34cf4988f36\" title=\"www.codesports.com.au\" data-tgev=\"event119\" data-tgev-container=\"bodylink\" data-tgev-order=\"a6446ba5ea3af89f66c9f34cf4988f36\" data-tgev-label=\"nrl\" data-tgev-metric=\"ev\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CODE Sports NRL show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"poster-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7c413a88efa0851e40e18f01682c25c3.jpeg\" data-sctrack=\"op-poster-img\" alt=\"Mary Fowler consoles despondent Cleary\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Read said on Thursday the Blues had gone backwards from the series opener where they had been dominated before the Ponga shoulder charge. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaumole has to come in for Origin III, that in hindsight was a complete and utter blunder by Laurie Daley,\u201d he said as one example of Daley\u2019s failures. <\/p>\n<p>He went on to say: \u201cHe\u2019s clearly been outcoached again. That\u2019s pretty obvious. And I think the use of the bench rotation shows that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know he\u2019s a great bloke, and we all love him, but last year he lost the unlosable series.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis probably isn\u2019t worse than last year &#8211; but it\u2019s on the verge of being very close to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQueensland look like a well-coached, well-drilled, well-led football team. The Blues look like a complete and utter rabble. They weren\u2019t even in the picture the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carayannis also singled out Daley\u2019s failure to get Koroisau in the contest. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the biggest blights on this NSW game &#8211; and it was the same in game one &#8211; was the bench rotation. It was diabolical,\u201d Carayannis explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAddin Fonua-Blake, 10 minutes. Came on in that second half and was on and off the field in the blink of an eye. No impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEthan Strange onto the field as a middle forward and eventually shifted to five-eighth for Mitch Moses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the player sat unused? Api Koroisau.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen NSW were chasing points, when NSW were trying to get some ascendancy around the ruck, when NSW needed a spark&#8230; Api sits unused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt that stage the game was in the balance. (In game one) Blayke Brailey had an instant impact as soon as he came onto the field. So&#8230; what is doing with the bench rotation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daley may be helpless to wield the axe again as a result of his team\u2019s performance \u2014 another act that will result in criticism, regardless of his call. <\/p>\n<p>He is now facing some of the biggest calls of his career in what could be his final game in charge. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll look at the game and see where we\u2019re at. I think you just analyse everything,\u201d he replied when asked if there would be changes. <\/p>\n<p>The Blues are rank outsiders to win the decider at Suncorp Stadium on July 8, but they showed two years ago that it was possible when they won game three in enemy territory.<\/p>\n<p>Originally published as <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/images-show-biggest-lose-daley-is-on-borrowed-time-as-nsw-coach\/news-story\/8544ede7b85696f475ce2b6e786a6d85\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Images show \u2018biggest lose\u2019 Daley is on borrowed time as NSW coach<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prosecutors in the court of public opinion have all the evidence they need to nail Laurie Daley&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-743900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}