{"id":795410,"date":"2026-07-12T11:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T11:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795410\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T11:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T11:42:25","slug":"state-of-origin-2026-queensland-maroons-coach-billy-slater-on-future-nsw-blues-mentor-laurie-daley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795410\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2026: Queensland Maroons coach Billy Slater on future, NSW Blues mentor Laurie Daley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy Slater<\/a> says he still doesn\u2019t know if he\u2019ll coach Queensland<\/a> next year but admits the job \u201cwould be hard to walk away from\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Nine\u2019s The Sunday Footy Show in the wake of the 30-12 loss to NSW<\/a> in the State of Origin<\/a> decider, the legendary fullback also heaped praise on the much-maligned Laurie Daley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Billy Slater.\u00a0Nine<\/p>\n

Slater is trying to come to terms with losing two deciders at Suncorp Stadium in three years.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old, who has won three of five series since taking over as Maroons coach in 2022, was asked by NSW icon Andrew Johns<\/a> if he would go around again next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot sure yet. I think I\u2019ll just let the dust settle and sit down with the right people and make that decision,\u201d Slater replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of work that goes into it, and it\u2019s a feeling thing. The reason I jumped into that position is because it meant the world to me, and it still does.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things I think about are the Queensland people and how much this team means to them, and then I think about that group of players. I\u2019ve created a really good relationship with them individually, and also collectively as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, knowing how much it means to them and what they put into it, that would be hard to walk away from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater revealed prior to game three his role as Maroons coach was \u201cnot a contract job\u201d<\/a>; rather, that he and the QRL were operating on a handshake basis.<\/p>\n

Complicating matters is the fact Ben Ikin is poised to stand down as QRL CEO at the end of July<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a fair bit to think about,\u201d Slater added on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Daley defied a tidal wave of criticism in orchestrating the Blues\u2019 Suncorp Stadium boilover.<\/p>\n

There was a narrative that he had only been reappointed as Blues coach because of his friendship with NSWRL CEO Dave Trodden.<\/p>\n

Daley was also targeted by a News Corp report which said his pre-game speeches were putting Blues players to sleep.<\/p>\n

The Blues legend unloaded on his critics in an explosive post-game press conference<\/a>, telling them to \u201cshow some balls\u201d and have a \u201chard look at themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n

Daley hasn\u2019t confirmed if he has finished as NSW coach, but it\u2019s expected he won\u2019t continue in the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of respect for Laurie,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a player that I really looked up to when I was a kid watching the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good man, isn\u2019t he? I think we all understand that he\u2019s a great guy who has a lot of respect for people. When you see that respect not received the opposite way, it\u2019s hard to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was one guy that I made sure I went and saw on the field after the game to congratulate him. He\u2019s worked long and hard for that role, and he\u2019s been in that position before. To work your way through that adversity and then come out the other side \u2013 I\u2019m sure he\u2019s enjoying that moment right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Slater says he still doesn\u2019t know if he\u2019ll coach Queensland next year but admits the job \u201cwould…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-795410","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\/795410","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=795410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}