State of Origin 2024: The seven key areas which cost Queensland coach Billy Slater a three-peat of series victories
The Maroons had a great opportunity to register a three-peat of State of Origin series victories under Billy Slater after winning Game 1, but blew it with a historic decider loss on home soil. This is where it went wrong for Queensland.
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A defiant Billy Slater insists he is not disappointed about surrendering the State of Origin shield to NSW as Queensland confronts a changing of the guard.
The Maroons fell short of delivering Slater a perfect three-peat of series victories in a brutal 14-4 decider loss to the Blues at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.
After winning Game One in Sydney 38-10, the undermanned Maroons lost the following two matches and failed to score a try on home turf in their first Brisbane decider defeat since 2005.
Despite the series defeat, his first since taking charge of the Maroons, Slater said he remained proud of his team.
“The team was defeated but it didn’t feel like a loss,” he said.
“I was disappointed after Melbourne (losing 38-18) but I’m not now. I’m immensely proud of this playing group and what they had to endure.
“They kept turning up but couldn’t quite get it done. The state of Queensland should be super proud of their footy team.
“I would have preferred to have held the shield up. Obviously it’s not good losing, but you can’t win everything.”
These are the seven areas where it went wrong for Queensland in a memorable series.
1. BILLY’S BUNGLE
Slater was bang-on with most of the Maroons’ selections across the series but there were some question marks over his team for the decider. Slater bungled by omitting David Fifita.
Yes, he isn’t perfect in defence but no Blues defender would have wanted him charging in their direction during the Suncorp slugfest.
In such a tight game, his blockbusting running could have a matchwinning factor.
Felise Kaufusi has been a great warrior but his 16-minute stint for two runs was ineffective and put further stress on their already-depleted forwards. Queensland lacked interchange punch in the final two games.
Spencer Leniu lifted the tempo five gears with his explosive charges for the Blues and the Maroons needed someone to fight fire with fire. Fifita had the size, power and club form to provide it.
Dally M champion Kalyn Ponga also needed to come into the game earlier than the 51st minute.
Ponga was warming up repeatedly in a desperate sign that said, ‘Hey Billy, I’m here, get me out there for a crack at these blokes.’
He showed some nice touches but needed more time and perhaps should have replaced a busted Reece Walsh at fullback.
2. SIXES AND SEVENS
Is this the end for Daly Cherry-Evans? And what does the return of a fit Cameron Munster mean for the heroic Tom Dearden? Queensland skipper ‘DCE’ has hinted at Origin retirement but on his performance in the three games, the 35-year-old should go around again next season and ensure the Maroons have the senior leadership at the scrumbase to hit back from this series loss.
While he was outpointed for the third consecutive game by NSW rival Mitchell Moses, Cherry-Evans was one of Queensland’s better players in the decider and he is still a crucial mentor for the Maroons’ younger core.
Which brings us to his younger halves cohort Dearden. What a player. What a competitor. He was magnificent. He could easily be Queensland’s No.6 for the next decade, but such is the brilliance of Munster, chances are Dearden won’t be there for game one in 2025 if the Storm champion is fit.
No one tried harder in the decider than Dearden, but the Maroons were missing a bit of magic when it mattered.
In a seesawing contest where one scintilla of genius could have changed the game, Queensland were crying out for Munster’s instinctive touch. NSW won that moment with Jarome Luai slicing through.
Could a Dearden-Munster combination be the future for Queensland? Ezra Mam and Sam Walker are also waiting for a crack.
3. MADGE’S MIND GAMES
Now it’s all done and dusted, and the Origin shield is heading south of the Tweed, Blues coach Michael Maguire can claim victory in the mind game stakes.
‘Madge’ has always been seen as a vanilla figure in the media but he lit the fuse with his clever “glass houses” comment that injected some spice into the series.
He also ensured the Blues were fired up and got under the skin of Queensland on the field. Maguire stuck solid to his principles and kept a laser focus as the series wore on, whereas his rival Slater cancelled a media session and overhauled Queensland’s preparation for the decider.
A cracking rivalry has emerged between the coaches boxes amid Slater’s first series loss as Queensland coach and it will be interesting to see how he reacts next year. Unlike Slater’s rival over the past two years, Brad Fittler, Maguire has proven himself as an elite coach and tasted success at every level of the game.
4. TACTICAL WARFARE
Maguire picked a team of in-form players throughout the series while Slater, mostly due to injury problems, was forced to call on whoever was available.
It was clear the Maroons lacked attacking spark and only scored 12 points against a 13-men Blues team across the three games. If not for the Game 1 send-off, and other sin-binnings, Queensland looked impotent against the Blue wall.
Not scoring a try in a Suncorp decider was disappointing and Queensland missed a staggering 62 tackles.
Slater made a bunch of changes to his starting side for the decider but denied it was panic.
“If it was panic, it was panic 10 days earlier than the game,” he said. “We knew exactly where we were going with our team. I’d probably still make those changes.”
Whatever the reasons, it didn’t work and Queensland’s attack struggled for most of the series.
5. THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED
It’s become clear that Queensland must move onto a new generation of Origin players.
The Maroons have had some great servants over the last decade, but their time has come to an end.
At 32, the speed of the game has become too much for Felise Kaufusi and he should finish his Origin career with 17 games for Queensland.
Kurt Capewell, 31, played his guts out but can’t match the punch of Blues stars Angus Crichton and Liam Martin.
Dane Gagai, 33, must bring an end to a stellar Origin career which has netted 23 games.
The most interesting two are Ben Hunt (34) and Daly Cherry-Evans (35). Both are still superb NRL players, but you can get old quickly in this game. Where will they be in 10 months’ time when the next series rolls around?
Only time will tell but don’t be surprised if we’ve seen the last of them in this arena.
6. NO. 1 PROBLEM
If Reece Walsh and Kalyn Ponga are both fit heading into next year’s series Slater will have a big decision to make.
Walsh was bashed relentlessly by the Blues this series and came crashing back to earth following his dream 2023 campaign.
Ponga has a more robust frame that, apart from his concussion struggles, can endure the physicality of the Origin arena and his man-of-the-match performance in the 2022 decider proved he is a big game player.
Walsh doesn’t have a mortgage on the Maroons fullback duties and the selection battle next year will be intriguing.
“Whatever position is best for the state and however that works, I’ll put hand up for that,” a diplomatic Ponga said when asked if he wanted to win back the Maroons No.1 jersey.
7. MAROONS MISSING CATTLE
While Queensland was gallant in the decider, they simply didn’t have the class to match the Blues.
You only need to take a look at the names missing to get an idea of how much the Maroons were up against it.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Tom Gilbert, Cameron Munster and Tom Flegler would have been certain selections but played no part in the series.
Xavier Coates and Murray Taulagi missed the decider and Kalyn Ponga sat out the first two games.
Kurt Capewell, Dane Gagai and Felise Kaufusi weren’t good enough to be selected last year but Slater had to turn to them given the injury problems.
If David Fifita can work his way out of the naughty corner, and Queensland’s stocks are healthy next year, the Maroons will have a serious team on the paddock.
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Originally published as State of Origin 2024: The seven key areas which cost Queensland coach Billy Slater a three-peat of series victories
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