Slater takes place amongst Maroons greatest coaches
- FOGS
- Aug 5
- 3 min read
Billy Slater's achievement to win a third series with Queensland makes him unique in the history of State of Origin.
No coach in Origin history has prevailed in multiple series without previously being a head coach in clubland.
Slater has now won three series out of four after a stellar career wearing the Maroons jersey.
There is a tendency south of the Tweed River when NSW loses a series to endlessly analyse what went wrong for the Blues and that is fair enough. Origin football means a lot to both states. That should not distract from Slater's remarkable achievement.
The great Arthur Beetson was captain-coach of Eastern Suburbs and Redcliffe before helming five series wins as a Maroons coach, with one of those series the one-off game in 1981 before prevailing from 1982-1984 and again in 1989.
Kevin Walters won two series coaching the Maroons (2016-2017) after being at the helm of Catalans and Ipswich.
Mal Meninga had been Canberra coach before winning nine of 10 series (2006-2013 and 2015) while Wayne Bennett was in charge of Souths and Brothers in the BRL, along with Canberra and Brisbane in the NSWRL, before winning multiple Origin series. Bennett won Origin series in 1987, 1988, 2001, 2002 and 2020.
Slater has worked with Craig Bellamy at Melbourne on a part-time basis but has never overseen a club side, which makes his success even more remarkable.
He gave five players debuts in the series. There were three debutants in game one - Beau Fermor, Robert Toia and Trent Loiero - then Kurt Mann in game two and Gehamat Shibasaki in game three.
Their performances were first class and played a key role in the 2-1 series win.
Slater also made the brave, but ultimately correct, decision to elevate Cameron Munster as captain and Tom Dearden as starting half for the final two games of the series after losing the series opener 18-6 at Suncorp Stadium.
The Maroons won 26-24 in Perth with Munster man of the match. They backed that up with a 24-12 win in Sydney when Dearden was player of the match and took out the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series.
Maroons chairman of selectors Gene Miles said Slater’s attention to detail and knowledge of the players available to him was a key to the team’s success.
“When Gehamat Shibasaki was mentioned he could rattle what clubs he had played for, how long he was there and what he had been through.
“It was the same with Robert Toia. Billy knows the background inside and out of every player that is eligible to play State of Origin footy. He has an intimate knowledge of their journeys, what positions they have played in the NRL and juniors and what injuries they have had.
In the leadup to the series decider in Sydney there was a training session that was held at the team base on the Sunshine Coast that revealed Slater’s nous as a coach.
The session was focused on fundamentals, concentration and patience in building pressure. The fruits of that session were on show in Sydney where the Maroons played a perfect first half and did not make an error until the 69th minute.
Munster’s father Steve passed away just four days before the game and the champion No.6 was encouraged by the coach to go home and be with his family. Munster returned to play a key role in the win as his teammates lifted another gear.
Slater said the victory was right up there with famous Maroons wins against the odds.
"That is right up there with the gutsiest," Slater said.
"It is a true Queensland team. It's been a true Queensland performance. That's no disrespect to anyone else, but you just have to look over the history of this footy team.
Certain sections of the media were suggesting Slater would not coach in 2026 after losing game one but Miles said he could coach the Maroons for as long as he wants to.
“Absolutely and it would be crazy to even think about changing that,” he said.
“The players have got so much respect for Billy and he demands respect anyway. They all realise what a legend he was on the footy field and now he is doing it off the field.