Laurie Daley’s time is up, now let’s get the best man to coach the Blues

IF the Martians were coming to invade us and a game of rugby league was to decide the fate of all humanity, would you pick Laurie Daley as coach?

IF the Martians were coming to ­invade us and a game of rugby league was to decide the fate of all humanity, would you pick Laurie Daley as coach ahead of Craig Bellamy? Brad Fittler ahead of Trent Robinson?

Or any of the other former NSW Origin greats supposedly in the running for the NSW job ahead of Des Hasler or Shane Flanagan?

They like to tell us you had to play Origin to understand it.

Phil Gould never did.

Hands up who’d love to see Bellamy coach NSW again?

Or if they can’t convince Bellamy to do it, what about Robinson, or Hasler or Flanagan?

Ask them all.

Let’s get the best man for the job, not the best man currently without an NRL head coaching gig.

Phil Gould never played Origin, but has a fantastic coaching record for the Blues.

Surely the time has come for NSW to change their thinking on this, go back to the future.

Just because Mal Meninga and now Kevvie Walters have had ­success with the Martians, sorry Queenslanders, doesn’t mean it is working for us.

Daley has now had five years in charge for one series win, and we have lost the past three in a row.

And even with the talk of bringing in Fittler to replace him, is that really going to give us the edge?

Or would you have more faith in someone who lives and breathes pulling apart opposition sides and game plans every single waking moment of their lives?

When you strip back all the bullshit and agendas in this NSW Origin post mortem/cover-up, this simple fact remains: The Blues got their bums smacked.

That includes the players and the coaching staff.

How does a team go from being so dominant in game one and for the first half of game two, to losing their way in the closing stages in Sydney and getting so comprehensively ­belted in the decider at Suncorp?

That is the question NSW fans want answered as much as how many beers Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson had at the Lennox Point Hotel.

Or if Andrew Fifita did or did not blow up, if and when he was told David Klemmer would be starting.

The real issue is how the hell did we lose this series given the performance from NSW in game one and for the first half of game two?

Blues coach Laurie Daley.

We can’t keep saying Queensland has this team of champions and it’s just the way it is, because game one showed us it’s a cop-out.

Like Bellamy wrote in his column in The Weekend Australian, NSW saved their worst for last.

“The disappointment for NSW is that they had exactly the same team the whole series, but they played their best at the start and their worst at the end,” Bellamy wrote.

“I’m thinking that if you keep the same team all the way through, then you should be improving each time.”

That’s called hitting the nail on the head. That is the reason for ­having the same team all the way through, so they improve as the series goes on, not get worse.

They all say now the mood in camp three was very flat and very low energy. The players, apparently, were bored.

How in the hell do players get bored leading into an Origin decider?

What is obvious to everyone, bar it seems the people in charge at the NSWRL, is that Blues fans have had a gutful of these lame excuses. And as good a bloke as Daley is, he can’t possibly be put back in charge next year.

The Blues saved their worst for last.

What has been revealed over the past few days only makes it more evident why it is time to appoint a coach with real and current experience.

If NSW didn’t have it together off the field, how in the hell did they ­expect to get the job done on it?

Do you think Dugan and Ferguson would have gone for a “long lunch” at Lennox five days out from an Origin decider if Bellamy was in charge? Bellamy would have had them for dinner.

Probably more to the point, Bellamy wouldn’t have picked them in the first place. He has a history of picking character and toughness over talent and tattoos, and it seems to work well for Melbourne, like it does for Queensland.

I just hope when it comes time to appoint the next coach for NSW the job is thrown open to everyone.

And ask them all if they want it, don’t just assume they don’t.

If it happens that person currently holds an NRL coaching job, so what.

It never stopped Gould from becoming the most successful coach in NSW Origin history.

Artwork: Scott “Boo” Bailey.

SHARKS VETERAN LOVED BY ALL FANS

IF there was a competition for most admired players in the NRL, Luke Lewis would be playing in the finals. He’d be in my grand final.

The champion Cronulla back-rower, and make no mistake, he is a champion, will run out for his 300th game against South Sydney on Friday night.

It comes a staggering 17 years after the now 33-year-old made his debut on the wing at Penrith in 2001.

And it was an insight into his humility, as much as his ability and perseverance, the way Lewis spoke about his milestone this week.

Asked by NRL 360’s Ben Ikin what his initial expectations were at the start of his career, Lewis said: “Obviously it sounds like a cliche, but all I ever wanted to do as a kid was play first grade and I just wanted to play one (game) … and then I got the opportunity to play two or three and I thought, ‘I got to live my dream. Now I’ve got to try and work harder’.

“I suppose now the rest is history but I really never expected to play more than one or two.”

Luke Lewis is one of the most admired players in the NRL.

Now he has made it to 300, and you wouldn’t find a player more deserving given some of the battles Lewis has had to overcome during his career.

From being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the neck in 2012, when he was told he’d never regain peak fitness, to basically being moved on by the Panthers when he had to rediscover his career in the Sutherland Shire.

But look at him now, five years on and Lewis is arguably in as good a form as ever. The thing about Lewis is that he still plays every week like it is still his first game.

Still even has a sausage roll and a can of Coke for lunch on game day. And that’s the magic of him.

That hunger and passion and intensity is what makes him the player he is, every bit as much as the God-given talent he was born with.

FLAT FORAN A CONCERN

CANTERBURY fans will be more worried about the result against Brisbane this week than what happens next year.

Kieran Foran’s form has become a concern.

Still, I’m struggling to comprehend the recent form of Kieran Foran, and how he is supposedly going to be Bulldogs’ saviour next year.

Like Andrew Johns, Foran at his best is one of those players with that unique ability to inspire those around him. Not just because of his class but through grit and determination.

But last week against Penrith, when the Warriors really needed him to lift, young Nathan Cleary ran rings around him. There was one try in particular when Cleary cut through and you could see Foran in the background looking like he was just going through the motions.

Even though he’s leaving at the end of the season, Foran should be busting his arse for Stephen Kearney given the Warriors threw him a lifeline to help get Foran back in the NRL.

If the Warriors miss out on the finals, it won’t be Foran left to deal with the fallout, though you get the feeling Kearney’s problem could become that of Des Hasler.

NO FOLLY CALL

PLENTY reckon Manly’s Darcy Lussick was hard done by copping a fine for pulling Aaron Woods’ hair last Sunday. I reckon Lussick should count himself lucky he wasn’t suspended. I know it’s gone on for years but you just don’t need those cheap tactics in the game.

VAL MERITS NOD

MAL Meninga’s Kangaroo Origin merit team is not a bad idea. But it lost credibility having James Tedesco on the wing ahead of Valentine Holmes.

Holmes was absolutely outstanding in the two games he played for Queensland, including his three-try performance in the decider.

Originally published as Laurie Daley’s time is up, now let’s get the best man to coach the Blues