Billy Slater’s brave calls and tactical perfection deliver Queensland the greatest State of Origin comeback

Billy Slater made big, brave and bombshell selection decisions. That and his tactical perfection in the decider hauled Queensland out of the fire and delivered the greatest comeback in Origin’s 45-year history.

Queensland. Beautiful one day, perfect (Origin football) the next.

Billy Slater has joined Queensland’s special slew of super coaches after masterminding the greatest comeback in Origin’s 45-year history on the back of tactical perfection and selection-room bravery.

Just three Queensland coaches since the birth of Origin in 1980 have won three or more series — Mal Meninga (nine), Wayne Bennett (five) and Arthur Beetson (five).

Now Slater has arrived in the same stratosphere as Queensland’s coaching Immortals after celebrating a hat-trick of series wins in just his fourth campaign in charge

This was his finest achievement yet.

He seemingly had no right to defy 45 years of history after Queensland stumbled and bumbled in Game One on home soil.

That the Maroons were able to fight back with a 26-24 riposte in Game Two and this — a tactical masterclass to stun the Blues 24-12 on home soil — confirms Slater as one of State of Origin’s most perceptive practitioners.

Billy Slater has written his name into State of Origin folklore. Picture: Getty Images

The narrative of this Origin series was as much about NSW’s mental fragility as Slater’s capacity to hold his nerve.

The Maroons mentor made several big, brave and bombshell selection decisions. They were emphatically vindicated to haul Queensland out of the fire and deliver another band of heroes on the 30th anniversary of Paul Vautin’s Neville Nobodies triumph.

The Blues tried to play mind games with Slater. He was accused of cracking over the Aaron Woods ‘Grub’ affair. There were fears Slater would walk away from the Maroons job if they lost this decider.

But Slater was the ultimate competitor as a player and if a team so often bears the idiosyncrasies of their coach, Queensland’s class of 2025 has Billy’s bravery and bloodthirsty appetite for victory.

Slater made the gut-wrenching call to axe Daly Cherry-Evans after their 18-6 loss in Game One and replace his skipper with rising star Tom Dearden at halfback.

It proved a masterstroke, with Dearden igniting Queensland’s misfiring attack in Perth and ‘Tommy Gun’ breaking NSW’s spirit in the decider, running all over Homebush as if there were six of him.

Slater gave the Origin captaincy to once-troubled larrikin Cameron Munster, who fought back tears in the Sydney decider just days after the death of his dad.

Slater kept rolling the dice, hauling Josh Papalii out of retirement for the decider, choosing Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow over Reece Walsh at fullback and handing Broncos bolter Gehamat Shibasaki a shock debut at centre.

Tick. Tick. Tick. All three selections paid dividends. Papalii absorbed the early exchanges. Tabuai-Fidow released Dearden for the try which had NSW in disarray at 14-0 and Shibasaki resembled Greg Inglis with 18 runs, 115 metres and seven tackle busts in a flawless Origin outing.

If Slater’s selection strategy was perfect, so was Queensland’s football.

Their first half at Homebush was one of the greatest halves in Origin history.

The Maroons completed at 100 per cent - 22 from 22 - as they stormed to a stunning 20-0 half-time lead, prompting Channel 9 expert and NSW’s greatest coach Phil Gould to say simply: “They have played perfect Origin football.”

Dearden personified the perfection. The Cowboys co-captain resembled a modern-day version of Allan Langer, his omnipresence inspiring one of the greatest halfback performances by a Maroons No.7 jumper — Alfie included.

The Blues’ first-half collapse in Perth was seen as a mere anomaly in the surge to Homebush redemption but Slater’s Maroons teams have shown they will not be beaten on hunger; they exceed the sum of their parts.

While NSW were disjointed and disconnected, Queensland built pressure and broke the Blues with desperation and desire.

In his first series in charge, Slater introduced a word to Camp Maroon - Ubuntu - an African term that means: “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

That sums up the 2025 Maroons. They wanted it more than NSW and are driven by team-first values.

Thirty years ago, Queensland celebrated Fatty’s Nevilles.

Now the Sunshine State can hail Billy’s Bravehearts.

Originally published as Billy Slater’s brave calls and tactical perfection deliver Queensland the greatest State of Origin comeback