State of Origin 2017: How Kevin Walters laid the foundation for the Maroons victory

KEVIN Walters' first day as Queensland coach could have destroyed him. Instead, it laid the foundations for two winning series.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA — JULY 12: Cooper Cronk of the Maroons hugs coach Kevin Walters after winning game three of the State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues at Suncorp Stadium on July 12, 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

KEVIN WALTERS' first day in the job could have destroyed him. Instead it laid a platform which made last year’s bad boys Wednesday night’s heroes.

Hidden behind the sensational Cameron Munster debut, the Valentine Holmes try-fest, the Thurston farewell, the Smith resurgence and any number of other enchanting tales lay one significant fact.

Kevin Walters can coach.

He has morphed from the boy with the angular grin into the man who is still quick with the lip but doesn’t mind putting in a spoonful of cement with it.

One of his very first acts as Queensland coach was to ban curfew-breakers such as Holmes, Munster and Dylan Napa after a big night out in the Queensland Origin squad, a decision which proved to the players that he was not a man to take liberties with.

Walters has two series win in his two years as Queensland coach.

It was tough medicine but the eight players he banned have risen from their despair to be more focused players and people. Would Queensland have won if Walters had handed down token punishment? We will never know but its fair question.

He was tough when it mattered and in hindsight we can say that indecent may have been a bonus for Walters because it enabled him to redefine himself.

Walters deserves a pat on the back because he has been under pressure since game one when the selectors stayed loyal to an old team and lost the series opener.

But he held his nerve under extreme pressure.

Since then, every gamble — and there were plenty of them — have worked.

Dane Gagai, player of the series, is one of Walters favourite players and he wanted him in the side at all costs. He has always liked the cut of Munster’s jib as well and simply loved the consistency of his old Storm mates Cronk, Smith and Slater and listened closely to their opinions on fringe players.

Walters was under pressure after banning players from Camp Maroon last season.

Walters was a satisfied man after the game and so he should be after ushering in the Kevolution Revolution.

Coaching Queensland was the big break he had been craving since his decorated career as a player ended and he has grown into and with the job.

Walters turns 50 this year but in the eyes of Queensland fans he will always be a boy at heart.

His challenge with Queensland was to redefine himself from the occasional jester he was in his playing days to a figure of more authority and he has done that — not by changing — but being himself.

The levity it still there but it now has a spoonful of cement.

The mid-training blast he gave to his troops during the middle of a sloppy training session at Langlands Park last week showed his no-nonsense side.

It was not just what they did but how they did it that made this a win straight out of the Penfold’s bin.

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Undermanned, underestimated and underdogs, you might have sensed Queensland would have tried to grind NSW to sawdust.

Instead they stormed the barricade with bayonets fastened, shoulders and hearts open to any attacking play worth a rumble.

They were the kings of conjure. It was as if every player was on red alert to get the ball at any stage.

It was fun to watch, especially when the man setting the tempo was debutant Cameron Munster who ran so aggressively at the line you would have sworn the Blues forwards had loaned his car and crashed it.

The decision which caused him most grief turned out to be the making of him.

The Blues must be wondering how on earth they are going to ever win a series if they could not win this one.

"That was pretty special." pic.twitter.com/xIZnRLG56R

— Queensland Maroons (@QLDmaroons) July 12, 2017

The Origin series has become sport’s version of the old Road Runner versus the Coyote cartoon where the Coyote stalks, threatens, ducks, dives and connives, but someone cannot land the killer blow.

NSW were ordinary. Queensland made them look bad. They were out-tackled, out-enthused, out-everythinged. The occasion seemed to overwhelm them and their awkwardness was a stunning contrast to Queensland new boys Munster and Valentine Holmes just shooting up the town.

Thirteen of Queensland’s 17-man squad had played seven games or less. Just six players from last night competed in the final Origin game last year. Queensland used 26 players in the series while NSW kept the same squad.

The Queensland were rough and raw but they were ready.

Each year we say it cannot get any better. Yet somehow it does.