Crawley: Queensland rugby league’s despair raises questions over leadership

The Maroons camp has responded to calls for Paul Green to be shown the door after an Origin annihilation. And, as always, Wayne Bennett’s name has come up.

Daly Cherry-Evans feels the pain of another Maroons Origin shocker. Picture: Getty Images

Queensland has all but ruled out sending an SOS to Wayne Bennett as calls grow to bring back the super coach to replace Paul Green.

But the Maroons have vowed to stand by their under siege coach in the wake of Sunday night’s Suncorp Stadium smash-up, with chairman Bruce Hatcher declaring: “I don’t believe this is in any way his fault. He needs time at the job.”

Hatcher also took a shot at NSW who he labelled “disrespectful” for their behaviour towards the end of the game and post match.

Hatcher declared it lacked “humility” and added “that is always good fodder for the future”.

But there was no way he was going to hang his own coach out to dry, accepting there was far more to it than simply blaming Green.

In two games so far the Maroons have been humiliated to the tune of an embarrassing 76-6, while Sunday night’s 26-0 loss was also the first time Queensland had ever been held scoreless at home.

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But asked directly if there was any chance he would seek out Bennett to come back and coach Queensland next year, Hatcher said: “I think it is unfair to go there.”

Hatcher admitted that he had fielded a call from Bennett on Monday morning but that was because they are long term mates who talk regularly.

It’s no secret Bennett is off contract at South Sydney at the end of the season and has already put up his hand to coach the new expansion team when he returns to live in Brisbane.

But Hatcher didn’t even want to get into hypotheticals of what might happen if Bennett doesn’t get his desired new NRL gig.

Daly Cherry-Evans feels the pain of another Maroons Origin shocker. Picture: Getty Images

“Paul Green has been in the job for five minutes and probably had the worst preparation in Origin I and then we had the sideshow in Origin II (relating to Ronaldo Mulitalo’s controversial Origin ineligibility),” Hatcher continued.

“But on the night I don’t fault the commitment. We have a long way to go. We have a lack of depth in key positions.

“So we have a lot of hard work to do in a relatively short period of time to see what we can do about filling the holes that we clearly have got to do better at.

“But Wayne was offered the job and after his success (in 2020) he said he wanted to concentrate on the Rabbitohs.

“So I think it is unfair to Paul Green to even consider his performance (so far).

“Part of what we said we’d do is review it at the end of the (series).

“But I think Queensland needs some stability for a number of years and I just don’t hold the view that you throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Told that sounded like he wanted to extend Green contract, Hatcher continued: “Well, he has another game to go. There is a review, we both agreed we’d do at the end of the contract term and I am very aware of the fickleness of people.

David Fifita of the Maroons reacts after losing game two

“They want someone to blame.

“I don’t believe this is in any way his fault. He needs time at the job.

“I think it is unfair to a young team of people to not have some stability in the coaching ranks. And I don’t see chop-changing that you are going to pull off a miracle like last year every year.

“You just can’t do that.”

Hatcher conceded “NSW had really done a good job in developing their talent pool” but he was far from happy with the way the Blues celebrated their victory.

“I have to tell you, one thing that always keeps people like me going is how you perceive the others receive the victory,” he said.

“And how in my opinion disrespectful of the opposition they are.”

Asked to name who he was pointing the finger at, he stopped short: “I had a few observations that were enough for me.”

Asked if he was referring to the players he said: “Yep, everyone (obviously meaning officials too).

“It is almost as if we were completely inferior. I mean, clearly there is superiority in the experience and clearly talent. And I believe execution. And I think they all come with more experience in that arena.

“But I think there is times for a little bit more humility than is quite often shown.

“But that is always fodder for the future.”

MAROONS MESS: DOES QUEENSLAND NEED ANOTHER NRL TEAM?

Queensland, beautiful one day, a shambles the next.

Seriously, has Queensland rugby league ever been in a greater state of despair?

And will giving them another NRL team really help fix the problem, or create and even bigger mess in years to come?

Because D-Day has arrived for the ARL Commission to make some tough decisions with formal presentations by the three bid groups — the Firehawks, Jets and Dolphins — to be delivered on Monday.

And as the ARL Commissioners, led by chairman Peter V’landys, move towards making a final decision on expansion for 2023 in the coming month, some serious concerns are there for all to see.

They have been completely embarrassed in this State of Origin series. Utterly humiliated.

On top of that their three NRL teams are going horrible with none of them in the top eight.

The once mighty Brisbane Broncos are a rabble sitting last on the ladder.

Gold Coast (who went into this season promising so much) is languishing in 13th spot.

And North Queensland is 9th.

Even if the Cowboys end up jagging a finals spot they’ll just be there to make up the numbers.

And then you watch what they dished up last night and you almost have to feel sorry for them.

In two games so far this series they are down 76-6.

50-6 in game one in Townsville. Then 26-0 at the Suncorp Stadium cauldron.

It was only the third time in Origin history that Queensland has been held to nil.

The last time was way back in 1994, and 1990 before that.

And make no mistake, they gave everything they had on Sunday night — and were still out of bullets in less than 12 minutes.

At halftime it was 18-0 with three unanswered tries (and the Blues absolutely butchered another when Cam Murray dropped the ball cold).

To their credit the Maroons hung in through sheer desperation for as long as they could but in the end they just didn’t have the guns to match the Blues.

And if Mal Meninga was naming his Australian team today how many Queenslanders would deserve to be selected?

Cameron Munster is among the few Maroons who would be walk-up starters to the Australian team. Picture: Getty Images

Going through the teams on paper before the match I figured no more than four.

For mine that would have been Cam Munster, Felise Kaufusi, and the two Maroons props Josh Papalii and Christian Welch (but only on reputation).

But on their performances last night, even those four would struggle to hold their place.

In every other spot the Blues would win the votes overwhelmingly.

There is that big a gap between the teams.

As Billy Slater said last night, the Blues are all in sync and the Queenslanders are playing like they don’t know each other.

Last year Wayne Bennett somehow inspired a miracle against the odds. But that was against a NSW side that didn’t have James Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell and Trbojevic.

Queensland Origin fan need to be prepared for more pain. Picture: Getty Images

This year the distinct gap between the two states was put into its proper perspective.

Something has gone terribly wrong north of the border in recent years.

It wasn’t so long ago they had the most successful era Origin has ever produced.

Now it’s the Blues turn to go on a run.

Wouldn’t you have loved to see this NSW team take on the great Maroons side that featured Smith, Thurston, Cronk, Inglis and Slater.

Now that would have been a match made in rugby league heaven.

Instead, the entire state of Queensland is lost in a world of pain and right now it’s impossible to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The ARLC needs to determine if giving them a new team is going to make them better or worse.

What Sunday night did for certain was give the doubters a lot more ammunition.

Originally published as Crawley: Queensland rugby league’s despair raises questions over leadership