The home state often talks about Queensland, but more than at any time in this year’s recent series it’s about the Maroons. This is Billy Slater and a series of newcomers. It’s even about the Blues diverging from the recent style to react to Queensland teams ’selections.
Since Paul Vautin, Queensland has not given the reins to an inexperienced coach at the senior level. That masterpiece in 1995 led to the victory of the most emblematic series in the 42-year history of Origin. This time, the Maroons fans are scattered at the prospect of an equally memorable victory.
Slater and Vautin could hardly be more different: Slater, the skilled sprinter who started the league with an accelerated pace and a supreme vision that led to some of the most spectacular moments the match has seen; and Vautin, the creepy redhead so well known for his paddock work pace as a clown. Its key similarity, however, is what excites Queensland fans: the eternal respect they have earned for their achievements in a golden age of the Queensland rugby league.
When Vautin took over the reins of a young, inexperienced team that lost many regulars thanks to the sanctions of the Super League war, he was widely regarded as one of the best warriors to wear a garnet shirt. What he lacked in training technical knowledge, he made up for with a raw passion and the ability to unite a messy group.
Circumstances are different this year, but Slater will be based on a similar ethos. After Paul Green’s experiment seeking technical knowledge instead of following my lead, Maroons powerbrokers hope that Slater will inspire and unite as much as try to break technically or overcome New South Wales.
There certainly won’t be a Queenslander on the team who hasn’t seen and admired Slater with the colors of Queensland. He was the most popular player of his generation and arguably one of the top four or five Queensland players of all time. He played with as much courage and toughness as he did with talent and intelligence. The decision to appoint him coach seems to have been the turnaround of what has meant a decline in fortune in recent seasons.
Head coach Brad Fittler looks on during a training session for the Blues on Monday. Photography: Matt King / Getty Images
Decline, of course, was inevitable after the retirement of the golden generation that included Slater. What has caused the most distress in North Tweed, however, has been the removal of the Queensland Road, especially last season, where the shirt did not lift a team below the paper as it has often done in the past and the state pride so often. maintained at the height as a binding force was strangely absent.
Hiring Slater is, if not an inspired choice, a Queensland choice. And before a ball is thrown it is already leaving its mark. He has shown no scruples in incorporating debutants such as Selwyn Cobbo and Reuben Cotter in what is essentially his first season as a full-time starter. Nor has she forgotten the needs of the past, surprisingly naming Ben Hunt as a prostitute and noting that the Dragons utility has won the Ron McAuliffe medal the past two seasons.
Such has been the threat posed by Slater in NSW that, for the first time in the Brad Fittler era, the Blues have made seemingly reactionary selection decisions. Fittler has often been credited as a leader who has marched to the beat of his own drum. For this reason, and because of the abundance of talent he has had at his disposal, he has avoided the troops who have so often ruined the opportunities of the blues. He has worried about the height of the end, dropping the second leading goal scorer of all time, Josh Addo-Carr, by Daniel Tupou. The abandonment of regulars Jake Trbojevic and Angus Crichton were surprising selection calls. Appointing Stephen Crichton to the bench was disconcerting.
Time, of course, will tell if Fittler has played the right cards. The blues enter the series very favored. They have won three of the last four series and boast confidence of having dominated Queensland in both live matches last season. Nathan Cleary is the main game creator of the game. James Tedesco and Damien Cook are the current defense and prostitute of Australia. There is no doubt that the Blues once again have a talent advantage.
That talent disparity is shrinking, though, and Slater’s spectrum is widening, an impressive feat for someone who hasn’t yet coached a senior football game. The Blues, at first glance, look frightened and Queensland seems ready to go back to what they have historically done best: stepping onto the biggest stages and defying all expectations.