Origin 2022: Billy Slater keen to take on Maroons coaching role if it fits in with his packed schedule
Billy Slater craves the Queensland Origin coaching job, but he’s still not yet prepared to sign on the dotted line.
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Billy Slater has declared he wants to help Queensland rise from the State of Origin scrapheap - on one condition.
Slater is in negotiations with the Queensland Rugby League about replacing Paul Green as Maroons coach following this year’s 2-1 series loss.
A deal was expected to be finalised this week, with the hope Slater’s appointment will lure Queensland legend Cameron Smith into Camp Maroon to assist him.
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But Slater said he would only agree to coach the Maroons if it could fit into his already packed schedule and private life.
Living in Melbourne, the Maroons commitment is extensive and Slater said he had to finalise intricate points of the agreement.
“A decision hasn’t been made as yet, there is still some consideration around the role,” he told 2GB Radio.
“I am definitely interested in helping Queensland out. The QRL aren’t just looking at a head coach for their State of Origin team, they are looking at a full overhaul of their development program, employing some mentors in and around coaches and players.
“They are looking at the whole system. One of those roles is the head coaching role.
“I have been contacted about it, but there’s a lot of consideration for me, it’s not just an easy thing.
“I have a lot of things in my life at the moment and I need to make sure I have the time and focus to put into the role that it deserves.”
Slater, 38, was in the mix to replace Wayne Bennett this year, but the QRL opted to appoint Green on a short-term deal.
The Maroons suffered comprehensive defeats in the opening two games of the series before avoiding a clean sweep with a gritty win in the dead-rubber.
Slater has no ambitions to be an NRL head coach and said he was ready to give the Origin job a crack.
“It wasn’t on my mind this time last year and I did have some conversations with the QRL,” he said.
“It wasn’t to be and I suppose I have given it a bit of thought over the last eight to nine months.
“In terms of being ready, when are you ready? Are you ready to play in a final? Are you ready to play State of Origin? You know when you get there.
“I coach now to a degree. I am still involved with the Melbourne Storm and I have been since I retired. I have coached individuals.
“When you are a player at the back end of your career, you are always a coach in and amongst your team. Your players do a lot of coaching these days and they have a lot to say about how you play and what you want to do. So there are different ways to coach.
“You look at Craig Bellamy to Wayne Bennett to Ivan Cleary, I’m sure they have different philosophies on coaching.”
NSW blues as Maroons get band back together
Queensland Rugby League have opened the door for Wayne Bennett to return to the Origin fold as Cameron Smith prepares to join forces with rookie coach Billy Slater and lead the Maroons’ fightback.
QRL chief executive Rohan Sawyer told News Corp he is keen to have Bennett back in Camp Maroon – just a year after the Souths super coach engineered the greatest series boilover in Origin’s 41-year history last season.
The pieces are falling into place for a Queensland coaching dream team.
Slater is expected to formally agree to coach Queensland this week and it is understood the Melbourne legend is keen to have his former Storm, Test and Origin teammate Smith involved as an assistant in his plan to bring down the Blues.
Smith is the most-capped player in Origin history with 42 appearances, having formed a lethal on-field partnership with Slater and Johnathan Thurston during Queensland’s record decade of dominance.
Now Queensland’s Big Three could get the band back together as a coaching strikeforce to inflict fresh misery on the Blues.
Bennett has vowed to never coach Queensland again after his 2-1 series-winning heroics last year, but he is open to a consultancy or mentoring role and the QRL are ready to pounce.
The QRL had plans to hire Mal Meninga as a mentor for Slater, but the ARL Commission’s decision to block the Australia coach helping the Maroons rookie has thrown a spanner in the works.
The appointment of Slater as head coach is expected to entice his great mate Smith into Camp Maroon.
Sawyer says the QRL are keen to push on with their strategic plan to develop the next wave of Queensland coaches and he is keen to reach out to Bennett to discuss a multifaceted role for the NRL’s greatest coach.
“We are still keen for a senior mentor,” Sawyer said.
“Having Wayne involved in any Queensland program at any time would be fantastic.
“We haven’t spoken to Wayne about being in the mentor program at this stage, but if the opportunity came up we would certainly like to talk to Wayne.
“Wayne is a great option. He has seen generations of football, he has had huge success across different levels of football, he understands Queensland and the Maroons and he knows what it takes to be successful at any level.
“It’s not so much about the player aspect with someone like Wayne, it’s how we would get him to help our future coaches across all levels of Queensland, that’s the most important piece for us.
“A lot depends on what Wayne is doing next year, but to have him involved in Queensland rugby league in a mentoring and coaching role, it’s definitely something we are interested in having a chat to him about.”
Slater has not formally approached Smith at this stage but there are plans for Queensland’s greatest hooker to be involved.
Smith’s supportive role in Camp Maroon would be contingent on Covid guidelines, with the Storm legend reluctant to be part of an Origin bubble next year due to family commitments.
Bennett has a remarkable 34-year span as Origin coach. The 71-year-old has had four stints with the Maroons, first taking charge in 1986 before his cameo return last year, pulling off a series win with 14 debutants in what many regarded as his finest chapter in coaching.
Bennett has almost 50 years of coaching experience and would be the ideal candidate to impart his wisdom on the next generation of Maroons coaches.
Slater, Smith, Thurston, Scott Prince and Corey Parker are some ex-Origin stars earmarked as future coaches by the QRL.
Bennett helped set up Queensland’s Emerging Origin program in 2001 to help build the Maroons’ player depth following their embarrassing 3-0 series loss to the Blues the previous season, including a 56-16 debacle in Game Three.
Bennett’s structures worked a treat – the Maroons went on to celebrate a golden dynasty under Meninga, winning nine of 10 series between 2006-15.
It is understood Bennett is open to a role presiding over the Maroons’ development-and-pathway programs, but says the ball is in the QRL’s court.
“I have no idea what’s going on. I’ve had no approach from the Queensland Rugby League,” he said.
“I won’t be getting involved until someone advises me on what Queensland wants.
“Does Billy Slater even want a senior mentor? I don’t know.
“Until I hear something official from the QRL, I’m staying out of it.
“I’ve got a job here at Souths and I’m focusing on the immediate task at hand here which is the finals.”
There was speculation Storm coach Craig Bellamy could mentor Slater given their long premiership association at Melbourne.
While former NSW coach Bellamy is unlikely to be part of the QRL’s plans, Sawyer hopes to have Slater locked in as Paul Green’s successor for the 2022 series.
“Craig Bellamy’s name hasn’t come up, so that likelihood is nearly impossible because we haven’t even mentioned him,” he said.
“Hopefully in the next few weeks we will sort out the deal with Billy.
“Part of the process is making sure we can figure out commitments for mentors and coaches. We have a bit of time and we understand a guy like Billy has some existing commitments, so we are just working through details now.
“We are not only looking at the Origin coach, but we are looking at a number of mentors who can work with coaches in our junior age teams and statewide competitions.
“We want to bring in advisers and mentors across our whole system right through to State of Origin.”
BENNETT BACK IN FRAME FOR ORIGIN COMEBACK
The ARL Commission has given Wayne Bennett the green light to help Queensland as chairman Peter V’landys outlined why he torpedoed plans for Australia coach Mal Meninga returning to Camp Maroon.
V’landys told News Corp he would not allow rugby league’s showpiece event, State of Origin, to be tainted by a conflict-of-interest scandal in the event Meninga assisted the Maroons while also serving as Australian coach.
The ARLC’s decision to block Meninga has left the Queensland Rugby League scrambling to find a senior figure to mentor Billy Slater, who is the preferred candidate to take charge of the Maroons next season.
While Meninga is out of the equation, the ARL Commission have left the door ajar for Bennett, Queensland’s only other viable mentoring option.
Bennett, who will sever ties with Souths at season’s end, hopes to secure a head-coaching role with a proposed second Brisbane team for 2023.
But even if Bennett continues his career in the NRL, V’landys says he would not stand in the way of the super coach concurrently presiding over Queensland’s Origin program and potentially joining forces with Slater to topple the Blues.
“It’s no problem if Wayne wanted to be involved with Queensland again,” V’landys said.
“Coaches aligned with NRL teams are not a problem, but being in charge of the Australian team is an entirely different proposition.
“As long as the club that Wayne is coaching agrees for him to help Queensland, that’s the main issue — the NRL has no issue with a club coach helping an Origin team.”
While Meninga’s primary focus is leading Australia to World Cup glory next year, the NRL Immortal was eager to play a mentoring role for the Maroons after being approached by the Queensland Rugby League.
But NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo contacted Meninga on Tuesday to inform the Kangaroos coach he would not be permitted to work with the Maroons.
V’landys said he could not risk a repeat of the Terry Fearnley affair in 1985, when the then NSW coach also coached Australia and was accused of selection bias in snubbing Queensland players during the national team’s fractured tour of New Zealand.
Fearnley fell out with Queensland legend Wally Lewis, who had alleged the Blues coach picked the Australian team with the help of NSW captain Wayne Pearce.
“We have to remember the Terry Fearnley situation,” V’landys said of the ARLC’s decision to veto Meninga returning to Camp Maroon.
“There is a conflict with Mal, there is no two ways about it.
“We consulted a number of people and they all agreed that it was a conflict of interest for Mal to coach Australia and be working with the Maroons.
“As much as we would like to assist, the reality is the Australian coach has to be unconflicted.
“Andrew (Abdo) spoke to Mal and he was fine. He totally understood our decision.
“I did tell Mal at the time when he rang me about it (helping Queensland) that it was unlikely to happen.”
QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher lauded the influence of Bennett, who returned to help injury-ravaged Queensland last year during the Covid crisis and engineered a 2-1 series win in one of Origin’s great boilovers.
“If Mal can’t do it, we’d have to look at another experienced guy,” Hatcher said.
“Wayne has done a magnificent job over the years and he is still popular with the rugby league fraternity. He keeps doing things no one thinks he can do.”
Bennett has already ruled out a head-coaching role with Queensland. He was tight-lipped on Wednesday about the prospect of helping Slater in the wake of Meninga’s rejection.
“I have no idea what’s going on. I’ve had no approach from the Queensland Rugby League,” he said. “I won’t be getting involved until someone advises me on what Queensland wants.
“Does Billy Slater even want a senior mentor? I don’t know.
“Until I hear something official from the QRL, I’m staying out of it.
“I’ve got a job here at Souths and I’m focusing on the immediate task at hand here which is the finals.”
PVL kills off Maroons dream team
— Peter Badel, Brent Read
Queensland’s coaching succession plan is in tatters, with the Australian Rugby League Commission rejecting its request for Test coach Mal Meninga to act as a senior mentor for Maroons legend Billy Slater.
News Corp can reveal ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has torpedoed the Queensland Rugby League’s blueprint for Meninga to return to Camp Maroon next season due to a conflict of interest given his status as Australia coach.
The move comes as a savage blow to the Maroons, who have tabled a three-year offer to Slater and were hoping to finalise their coaching dream team this week in Queensland’s quest to topple the Blues next season.
But the ARLC’s decision to scupper Meninga’s Maroons comeback has left the QRL in limbo _ and they may confront yet another headache as they fight to meet Slater’s asking price to secure their successor to Paul Green.
The Maroons had hoped to have Meninga in camp with Slater over the course of the 2022 Origin series to provide a sounding board to the rookie coach.
It is understood the QRL haven’t given up hope of having Meninga involved on some level to give Slater guidance, possibly as part of an advisory panel. However, it will be a watered-down role to what they originally envisaged.
“I am disappointed,” QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher said.
“This one is one where Mal deserves to take the Kangaroos to England (for the World Cup next year). He can’t jeopardise his position.
“We will work something out where he can have a less formal role. Our whole notion was for him to go into camp and spend the whole time in camp.
“He won’t be able to do that.”
Of equal concern for the QRL is that Slater has yet to formally sign with the Maroons.
As revealed by News Corp, Slater is the preferred candidate to replace Green and the QRL has since ramped-up their pursuit, tabling a formal offer for the 38-year-old to call the shots at Camp Maroon until the end of 2024.
QRL bosses were hoping to have his signature on a contract last Friday, but Hatcher concedes the Maroons’ plan for a Slater-Meninga coaching alliance has hit some unexpected hurdles.
“The ball is in Billy’s court. He has to come back to us and accept the position,” Hatcher said. “In Billy’s case, the QRL and his manager need to work out a deal.
“We’re looking at a three-year contract, it would be two years with a one-year option.
“Billy and his manager are the ones considering all issues, so we just have to wait.
“We are pretty definite about what we are prepared to offer, it just depends whether it’s acceptable or not and in any way, shape or form negotiable.
“That’s about the only thing standing in the road with Billy, we can’t drag this on indefinitely and make it a Dutch auction.
“I was hoping for an answer last week. I didn’t think it would be this complicated, but I understand managers do this for a living and that there is a marketplace out there.
“At the moment, we are in limbo.”
Slater’s manager George Mimis is one of the code’s longest-serving agents and is acutely aware of coaching salaries, both at NRL and State of Origin levels.
It is understood NSW coach Brad Fittler’s salary is worth more than $350,000 annually, while his Origin rival this season Green, also managed by Mimis, earned less than $200,000 to take charge of the Maroons.
Slater is also mindful of his media and business commitments and wants to do justice to the Maroons job given his respect for the Queensland Origin culture.
Should the QRL fail to strike palatable financial terms, it would send their coaching blueprint into chaos, but Hatcher remains confident the Maroons will get their man in Slater.
“I have spoken to Billy about the job before we made the offer and he was highly excited,” he said.
“It’s a matter of the details now. Billy has indicated he wants to do it, so the QRL would love to have him on board taking us into the future.
“But then he has a manager to deal with and Billy’s manager is pricing his product and telling the people seeking the product are you prepared to pay this amount?
“If things don’t line up, then Billy has to accept maybe there is no deal.
“But I’m still confident Billy will be coaching the Maroons next year surrounded by some pretty powerful experienced people.”
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