{"id":616512,"date":"2026-09-30T16:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/616512\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T16:24:13","slug":"darius-boyd-cops-early-setback-as-maroons-coach-after-broncos-slap-ban-on-key-origin-figure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/616512\/","title":{"rendered":"Darius Boyd cops early setback as Maroons coach after Broncos slap ban on key Origin figure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newly appointed Maroons coach Darius Boyd<\/a> has been dealt an early setback, with reports he’s set to lose a key member of his Queensland backroom staff next year. The Broncos great won the race to succeed Billy Slater<\/a> earlier this month after being handed a two-year deal to replace the former Maroons mentor, from 2027.<\/p>\n

But Boyd’s tenure is already off to a rocky start, amid reports long-time assistant Matt Ballin is set to hand in his resignation at the behest of Brisbane. Ballin is also an assistant coach under Michael Maguire at the Broncos, but the fallen NRL<\/a> premiers are preparing to ban him from taking up the Origin role with the Maroons again next year, as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ballin was one of Slater’s trusted lieutenants, having worked under the former Maroons coach for the past five Origin series. But News Corp reports<\/a> that Broncos bosses are keen for Ballin to focus all his energy into helping Maguire turn things around at Brisbane after the defending premiers failed to make the finals this year.<\/p>\n

The report goes on to say that Ballin is expected to resign from the Maroons, off the back of being appointed as Brisbane’s new defensive coach. The Broncos previously vetoed Ben Te’o from taking up a role under Slater before he quit as Brisbane’s defensive coach earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\"Seen<\/p>\n

Matt Ballin is reportedly set to resign from his assistant role with the Maroons after being appointed as Brisbane’s new defensive coach. Pic: Getty<\/p>\n

Broncos block Matt Ballin from Maroons assistant role<\/p>\n

And Brisbane’s new executive football boss Troy Thomson says they’re taking a similar approach with Ballin after discussing his important new role with the club. “With Matt’s elevation to a senior assistant coach position at the Broncos in 2027, he will not be available to take up a coaching role with the Queensland State of Origin team,” Thomson told News Corp.<\/p>\n

“Matt and I have had positive discussions around the situation. And the decision reflects our overall commitment to giving our playing group the full focus and continuity of our football department throughout the 2027 season.”<\/p>\n

The Broncos gave Ballin their blessing to join Slater’s Origin coaching staff this year. He was joined by fellow Brisbane staffers Pat Kenny – who will link up with the Cowboys in 2027 – and trainer Matt Barradine, who has been granted permission to work with Boyd at the Maroons next year.<\/p>\n

Master coach Wayne Bennett has reportedly also agreed to help mentor Boyd in his rookie Origin campaign as head coach. It’s understood Bennett will take on an unofficial advisory role with a focus on team selection, tactics and strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newly appointed Maroons coach Darius Boyd has been dealt an early setback, with reports he’s set to lose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[75637,69666,9689,226164,303743,303742,190148,25484,111,139,69,213,19259],"class_list":["post-616512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-assistant-coach","tag-billy-slater","tag-brisbane","tag-darius-boyd","tag-defensive-coach","tag-maroons","tag-matt-ballin","tag-michael-maguire","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports","tag-the-broncos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}