{"id":842888,"date":"2026-08-04T05:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T05:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/842888\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T05:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T05:58:14","slug":"state-of-origin-news-matt-king-new-nsw-blues-coach-questions-over-james-tedesco-team-selection-andrew-johns-assistant-coaches-isaiya-katoa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/842888\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin news, Matt King new NSW Blues coach questions over James Tedesco, team selection, Andrew Johns, assistant coaches, Isaiya Katoa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt King says he is ready to face the heat that comes with being a State of Origin<\/a> coach, after agreeing to take the reins of New South Wales for at least the next two years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 45-year-old former Blues<\/a> winger won\u2019t have his feet under the desk until November 1, but there are already a number of crunch calls facing him ahead of next year\u2019s series, when he will defend the coveted shield.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

NSW Blues coach Matt King speaks to media.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

These are the first questions King will need to answer.<\/p>\n

Who will help him coach the team?<\/p>\n

King was an assistant coach to Michael Maguire<\/a> and then Laurie Daley<\/a>, and after stepping up into the big chair he will need to fill the void left by his own promotion.<\/p>\n

Brett White is an obvious selection. He has been working as an assistant coach alongside King for the Blues already, and at Newcastle, where he and Justin Holbrook have the Knights playing good football.<\/p>\n

The other obvious candidate is former Blues captain Boyd Cordner<\/a>, who was forced to retire due to concussion issues in 2020 but has since been working with the Roosters and the Origin team.<\/p>\n

An interesting watch will be Penrith coach Ivan Cleary, and whether he is asked to help out, as he has previously. Cleary will quit his Panthers role at the end of next year and had been heavily linked to the Blues job before King\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n

As King said on Tuesday, Daley delegated most of the football work to he and White this year while the head coach focused more on team selection, motivation and media duties.<\/p>\n

King will find himself much busier next year when he is the face of the team and so will have less time to spend on the actual coaching side of the gig.<\/p>\n

He will also have the help of long-time Storm football boss Frank Ponissi, who has agreed to continue helping the Blues next year.<\/p>\n

Will he bring Joey into camp?<\/p>\n

Andrew Johns<\/a> is undoubtedly one of NSW\u2019s best ever players, and many people were calling for him to coach the team despite having no experience in such a job.<\/p>\n

\"Greg<\/p>\n

Greg Alexander and Andrew Johns speak during the 2023 Origin camp.\u00a0nna\\alyssa.bone<\/p>\n

He is arguably the most passionate Blues fan in the state, and struggles to keep his emotions in check while commentating games on Origin night for Nine.<\/p>\n

He previously appeared in camps as an attack consultant under Brad Fittler\u2019s regime, but hasn\u2019t had a role with the Blues for several years.<\/p>\n

While he staunchly denied any interest in coaching the team full-time<\/a>, he has continuously said he is willing to help the Origin coaches bring down Queensland if they ask him to.<\/p>\n

The Blues have struggled at times to find attacking rhythm in recent years, accused of trying to put a Penrith blueprint over the representative team.<\/p>\n

While star halves Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses shouldn\u2019t need much coaching, having Johns in camp could only benefit the team.<\/p>\n

Can he make brutal Teddy call?<\/p>\n

Unlike Daley or Fittler before him, King arrives in the hot seat straight from working with a team in clubland.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James Tedesco and Nathan Cleary.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

And he will be forced to make some big calls on players he has grown close with during his time at the Roosters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

James Tedesco was brutally dumped by Michael Maguire to start the 2024 series, and was only brought back for game one after Dylan Edwards went down injured during camp.<\/p>\n

He missed the entire 2025 series despite winning the Dally M Medal in the NRL that year, then was reinstalled as Origin fullback by Daley for this year\u2019s series.<\/p>\n

He will be 34 years old by the time game one selection happens next year and obviously, his selection should depend on form over the opening rounds of the season.<\/p>\n

But even champions reach the end at some point, and with the likes of Edwards and potentially Tom Trbojevic breathing down Tedesco\u2019s neck, King may have to make a tough call on the No.1 jumper before too long.<\/p>\n

When does he pull the trigger on Katoa?<\/p>\n

Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses will no doubt be first-choice halves for the Blues for at least the next couple of years, but Dolphins young gun Isaiya Katoa<\/a> is waiting for his shot.<\/p>\n

\"SYDNEY,<\/p>\n

Isaiya Katoa of the Dolphins.\u00a0nna\\bglover<\/p>\n

He and Ethan Strange are probably considered the long-term six and seven for the Blues and while the latter made his Origin debut this year, Katoa could only make it to the training squad before being released back to clubland.<\/p>\n

With both men in their early 20s they could potentially form a decade-long combination for NSW.<\/p>\n

King will have to manage their introductions carefully so as not to burn them as other young players have been in the heat of the Origin arena.<\/p>\n

No doubt both Katoa and Strange will be part of King\u2019s camps next year.<\/p>\n

Where will he base the Blues?<\/p>\n

Every coach seems to have his own opinion on where the NSW camps should be based during the series.<\/p>\n

Fittler once put the team in Coogee, in the heart of Sydney\u2019s eastern suburbs where players could walk across the road to the beach, and mingle with fans throughout the week.<\/p>\n

Maguire took them west to hide away in the Blue Mountains, while this year they returned to the central coast.<\/p>\n

King is an eastern suburbs local and is accustomed to Sydney\u2019s beaches, having worked with the Roosters for close to a decade, and having played for South Sydney before that.<\/p>\n

Will he choose the Sydney limelight or a more intimate location for his debut campaign?<\/p>\n

Time will tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt King says he is ready to face the heat that comes with being a State of Origin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-842888","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\/842888","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=842888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}