Cameron Smith to join Queensland Maroons coaching staff, Mal Meninga cleared for QRL role
Billy Slater’s Maroons revival is well under way, with another Maroons legend joining his all-star coaching team.
Cameron Smith is returning to haunt the Blues with the Maroons champion set to join Billy Slater’s coaching team to spearhead Queensland’s Origin revenge mission next season.
News Corp can reveal Smith is on the verge of inking a deal with the Queensland Rugby League in a huge coup for the Maroons as they look to scupper a NSW dynasty plotting a fourth Origin crown in five years.
The QRL is in the advanced stages of negotiations with Smith and plan to formally announce his addition to Camp Maroon next week.
Smith, Slater and Cowboys playmaking legend Johnathan Thurston were Queensland’s Big Three during a record decade of dominance that saw the Maroons win nine series in 10 years under super coach Mal Meninga.
Now the band is coming back together, with Smith advising Slater he is ready to help out in an assistant’s role, joining Thurston and Josh Hannay in Queensland’s coaching arsenal for the 2022 series.
Catch all the ICC T20 World Cup action live & exclusive to Fox Cricket, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Smith is the most-capped player in State of Origin history, having amassed a record 42 appearances and winning a remarkable 11 series as he tormented the Blues with his unrivalled masterclasses out of dummy half.
Rookie Queensland coach Slater is ready to use Smith’s peerless football brain to help the Maroons reclaim the Origin shield.
“It would be great for us to have Cameron Smith in camp,” QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher said.
“We have a working assignment for him through the Origin series and there are few better credentialed people in rugby league than Cameron Smith.
“Cameron would have an enormous impact on the group.”
The 430-game Storm legend has stayed in touch with the game since his retirement at the end of last year, featuring as an expert commentator on Channel 9’s NRL coverage.
There is one condition to Smith’s return to Camp Maroon. Now living on the Gold Coast, the 38-year-old is reluctant to be quarantined in an Origin bubble, but that is an unlikely scenario next season under the NRL’s Covid vaccination plan.
Hatcher believes Queensland’s current generation of stars would relish Smith’s presence alongside Slater and Thurston in Camp Maroon.
“I always remembered how he handled himself in the times we lost,” Hatcher said.
“Even in defeat, while he was dissatisfied with the outcome, he was totally in control of his emotions and always thinking about how can we improve and get better.
“He had an unrivalled respect from his teammates and coach and whenever Cam was around, you felt Queensland could win. He was incredibly effective.
“Billy Slater is very organised. The people he will use in camp will have a genuine function, not just be around the Queensland team for the sake of it.
“I see Cam having something to do with the forwards and ‘JT’ (Thurston) will have some critical positional coaching skills.
“To have Billy, Cam and JT working as a coaching team … it’s like having the band back together again.”
MENINGA BACKS SLATER AS MAROONS MENTOR
—Peter Badel
Mal Meninga has backed Billy Slater to succeed as a State of Origin coach as the former Maroons mentor declared he is keen to help strengthen Queensland’s interstate program.
As revealed by News Corp, ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has given the green light for Meninga to return to the Queensland fold — on the proviso the Australia coach does not personally mentor Slater.
Breaking his silence on the issue, Meninga says he is happy to adhere to V’landys’ edict as the NRL Immortal prepares to spearhead the Maroons’ Origin road map as a member of a QRL advisory panel.
Meninga was appointed Australia’s coach in 2016 after steering the Maroons to nine series wins in 10 years and says he is mindful of conflict-of-interest claims surrounding his return to the QRL.
“I spoke to Bruce Hatcher (QRL chairman) a few weeks ago and said I was keen to help out,” Meninga said.
“I’m a passionate Queenslander at the end of the day so if I get the opportunity to be part of an advisory board, I will do it with open arms.
“I also spoke to Peter (V’landys) about assisting Billy, but the perception is there around the Australian coach and I agree.
“In my position with the Kangaroos, I need to be sitting on the fence, which is totally understandable.
“But by joining the QRL in an advisory capacity, it’s for the greater good of the game and I feel very privileged to be asked to help out.”
The QRL were originally hoping Meninga would be given ARL Commission approval to directly mentor Slater, who will embark on his first season of Origin coaching next year.
But after V’landys vetoed that proposal, the QRL has recalibrated Meninga’s role, with the former Australian skipper to focus on mentoring the next wave of Queensland coaches and improve the Maroons’ playing depth.
“I don’t know the full details as yet,” he said. “The QRL are setting up an advisory committee to look at coaching resources in Queensland, as well as mentoring young coaches and ex-players to come through into the professional coaching ranks.
“There’s not a lot of coaching depth in Queensland, so it’s important for the health of Origin that we develop another generation of coaches.”
While Meninga is banned from advising Slater, the Test coach is confident the Storm legend will flourish at the helm of the Maroons.
Meninga coached Slater in eight Origin campaigns and says the 31-game Maroons fullback champion understands what it takes to succeed in the code’s toughest arena.
“Billy will be outstanding as an Origin coach,” he said.
“He has the technical ability, he has the temperament and he will have the trust of players.
“He has been there and done that and he will be able to communicate what State of Origin is all about to compete at that level.
“Billy is smart enough to get the right people around him.
“Having coached Billy, I know what makes him tick. He was the ultimate professional and he will have the Queensland team well prepared.
“He is one of the greatest fullbacks to play the game so he will have the instant respect of the players.
“What Billy gets about Origin is it’s not so much about the tactics, it’s about building trust and bringing a team of men together to perform in that arena.
“Billy will know how to do that.”
REVEALED: ARLC BOSS’S STRICT RULES FOR MAL’S MAROONS RETURN
—Peter Badel
Mal Meninga is returning to help the Queensland Rugby League with ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys giving the Australia coach the green light to return to the Maroons’ Origin program.
News Corp can reveal Meninga will return to the Maroons set-up next season – but the NRL Immortal must adhere to a strict set of conditions to avoid a conflict-of-interest issue given his status as coach of the national team.
The Queensland Rugby League originally pushed for Meninga operate as a senior advisor to rookie Maroons coach Billy Slater, a proposal that was rejected by the ARL Commission.
But V’landys has relaxed his stance to enable Meninga to work for the QRL’s senior advisory board on the proviso the Australian coach does not have direct contact with Slater in the Maroons’ quest to topple NSW and reclaim the Origin shield.
V’landys confirmed Meninga has been cleared to join the Queensland Rugby League on an advisory board slated to also feature Wayne Bennett, Gene Miles and Neil Henry.
“I am happy for Mal to play a role with the Queensland Rugby League,” V’landys said.
“However, I have made it clear that he can’t be doing any work with Billy Slater while Mal is the Australian coach.
“There is a perception and clearly a conflict-of-interest issue (if Mal was to assist Slater).
“By all means, we would like Mal to help the Queensland Rugby League in other endeavours.
“He is an Immortal of the game and we believe he can help Queensland from a participation perspective.
“But we don’t want him involved in the State of Origin program. Billy Slater has enough staff to help him, so we have to be fair and balanced.
“It not only has to be right, it has to look right. We don’t want NSW saying there is a bias to Queensland in the Australian team.
“This is not a shot at Mal Meninga. His integrity is beyond reproach, but it’s the perception if the Australian coach was working with the Queensland coach.
“I am leaving it to Bruce Hatcher (QRL chairman) and the Queensland Rugby League to work out a clearly defined role for Mal.
“The NRL has approved his involvement in accordance with Bruce’s undertaking to improve participation in Queensland.
“The only person Mal can’t work with is Billy.”
Meninga is the greatest coach in State of Origin history, having steered Queensland to nine titles in 10 years during the Maroons’ decade of dominance between 2006-15.
Slater was Meninga’s fullback during that time and the QRL had a view that now, as an untested Origin coach, the champion Melbourne fullback could have benefited from being advised by the Maroons’ most successful mentor.
Meninga’s involvement with the QRL is sure to raise eyebrows with Origin rivals the Blues, but Hatcher is adamant the NRL Immortal will have a wider focus to improve the state of rugby league in Queensland.
“We’re keen to have Mal involved,” he said.
“We have a few issues in the Queensland environment and among those are our depth with players, coaches and even referees.
“It’s a mammoth job and it’s one of the reasons we have restructured our football department.
“I like the idea of getting a range of people involved on an advisory board to help the Queensland program with participation.
“Guys like Mal Meninga, Wayne Bennett and Gene Miles and a few others will have some input on our program.
“I spoke to ‘PVL’ (V’landys) about having this advisory group and he thinks it’s a step too far to have the Australian coach being an advisor to the Queensland coach.
“I accept that, it’s a reasonable conclusion, so instead we will have Mal working on projects much bigger than Origin.
“We have Cooper Cronk overseeing our development-and-pathways committee and we’d like Mal to assist in that regard with his great football knowledge.
“It will be across-the-board involvement, except he won’t be working with Billy.”
NSW Rugby League chief executive David Trodden said the Blues had no issue with Meninga’s involvement as long as it was at arm’s length to the Maroons.
“It’s in the interests of the game to have strong development pathways in New South Wales and Queensland,” Trodden said.
“There would be a conflict of interest of the Kangaroos coach had a direct involvement with either of the State of Origin teams.
“But given with this proposal there is no direct involvement, you would think nobody could have any possible objection to it.”
Maroons’ desperate ploy to backup Billy
– Brent Read
The Queensland Rugby League haven’t given up hope of having Mal Meninga involved in a Maroons revival as they prepare to put their faith and future in the hands of an advisory panel involving the state’s sharpest minds.
The QRL wanted Meninga to become a mentor to freshly-minted Maroons coach Billy Slater but were warned off the Kangaroos coach by ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys, who was concerned about a conflict of interest.
However, News Corp understand the QRL has changed tack and are keen to have Meninga involved as part of a high-level advisory group that could potentially also involve seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett and Maroons legend Gene Miles.
QRL chair Bruce Hatcher confirmed the Maroons still hoped to use Meninga in a role that would allow him to be accessed by Slater, but more importantly help oversee a regeneration of rugby league in the state in conjunction with the likes of Bennett and Miles.
“I think a broader view of the issue is that guys like Mal, even Geno and Wayne, have had so much involvement in football generally that the QRL needs their expertise going forward as part of making sure that our systems and processes and people are in accordance with their pretty high standards and knowledge and experience,” Hatcher said.
“So what we want really is to have them on (what) I call basically an advisory board. An advisory board would offer advice to the appropriate people.
“Billy is a guy who obviously has supreme confidence and has performed very well at the highest level. I still contend coaching is different.
“There are a lot of things that work against you as a coach that are outside your control and I want to make sure at any time that he can feel comfortable with the calibre of those people that he can go and have a chat to.
“They (Meninga, Bennett and Miles) are the ones who have done all the good things. Without them, the cupboard is a bit bare.”
The QRL initially approached Meninga about working alongside Slater in camp throughout next year’s Origin series but those hopes were dashed when V’landys and the ARL Commission ruled it would conflict with his role with the Kangaroos.
That was thought to be the end of the matter but the QRL remain intent on having Meninga – a Queensland icon and the game’s most successful Origin coach – involved in some capacity as they attempt to give Slater all the support necessary so he can wrest back interstate supremacy.
“We want to make sure he has all the resources he needs,” Hatcher said.
“The difficulty if you had a Wayne or Mal there is some people would assume they were the coach. That was never the intention.
“In actual fact it is more important to us to be able to give them our opinion on how we want to structure something and get them to critique it before me make mistakes or they can find a better way to do it.
“I raised with Mal that we want to find some way he can help us and he has always been very ready to help. But he can’t jeopardise a substantial opportunity he has to coach Australia.
“I would like to get (the advisory panel) going well before we lock up for Christmas. I would hope we can do that in the next few weeks.”
As for Bennett, he too remains on the Maroons’ radar. The seven-time premiership winner has his hands full at the moment as he seeks to resolve his future with the Dolphins but in time, Hatcher plans to step up talks to ensure he has a role with the QRL.
“I have had a couple of talks to the lad,” he said.
“I know him well enough to let him be and we said when you have settled down and got things set in concrete (on your future), give us a yell and we will have a talk.
“He is as Queensland as they come. He would do whatever he could to help us, I know that.”
More Coverage
‘Sprays me every game’: How Luai’s tough love transformed Penrith star
Panthers young gun Paul Alamoti has praised Jarome Luai for helping turning his NRL career around, crediting some of the five-eighth’s savage sprays for turning him into a grand final player.
Read more
Dally M Confidential: And the biggest pest award goes to…
Some bloke moonlighting as a Bears insider took out the coveted ‘Pest Award’ thanks to some, ahh, questionable antics. Plus a red-hot Red Bull rumour and much more in DALLY M CONFIDENTIAL.
Read more