{"id":960145,"date":"2026-11-11T04:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T04:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/960145\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T04:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T04:16:24","slug":"state-of-origin-news-2026-nsw-blues-womens-coach-john-strange-leaves-program-historic-run-nrl-possibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/960145\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin News 2026 | NSW Blues womens coach John strange leaves program, historic run, NRL possibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Strange has stepped down as head coach of the NSW Blues<\/a> women\u2019s team, concluding a brief but highly successful tenure that saw his side claim two State of Origin<\/a> series victories. <\/p>\n

During his two years at the helm from 2024, Strange etched his name into rugby league history. <\/p>\n

\"Head<\/p>\n

Head Coach John Strange watches on.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Alongside coaching the Sydney Roosters<\/a> NRLW<\/a> team, he led the Blues in 2026 to a flawless 3-0 series sweep<\/a>. <\/p>\n

They became the first women\u2019s Origin team – and the first Origin side since 2000 – to achieve the feat, Strange\u2019s squad conceding just 20 points across the three matches.<\/p>\n

NSWRL chief executive David Trodden praised the departing coach\u2019s impact on the side, with only one Origin loss to his name in six games. <\/p>\n

\u201cJohn changed the trajectory of our women\u2019s State of Origin program,\u201d Trodden said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe instilled a winning culture amongst the NSW Women\u2019s group. Across his tenure, he recorded five wins and only one tight loss. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a testament to John\u2019s professionalism, standards and passion for the representative scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cBehind the scenes, he has been a long-term pioneer of the women\u2019s game and although we are sorry to see him go, we will forever be thankful for the lasting legacy he has left.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has set the benchmark as a coach, and we will look to continue the success he has brought to the organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear where Strange will head after his dominant success in the NRLW realm, but it would be expected that Strange – with his dominant track record – would be a highly sought-after candidate for an NRL<\/a> role, should he choose to make the transition.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on stepping down, Strange described his time with NSW women\u2019s side as an \u201chonour\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been an honour and a privilege to coach the NSW Blues Women\u2019s State of Origin Team,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, but even prouder of the players and staff that make this group so special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will take away some fantastic memories and relationships that will last a lifetime<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, it has been an absolute honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NSWRL will now start a process of choosing a successor for the 2027 State of Origin series, which kicks off in April. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Strange has stepped down as head coach of the NSW Blues women\u2019s team, concluding a brief but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":960146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-960145","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\/960145","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=960145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/960146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}