Sorry Laurie: tale of two coaches exposes Daley’s Blues

By Darren Walton and Murray Wenzel

Ironically, Laurie Daley axing the next Laurie Daley might have placed the NSW legend on the cusp of compounding the least successful coaching record in State of Origin history.

Or was it Daley’s decision to dump the NRL’s form second-rower Haumole Olakau’atu, then overlooking Liam Martin and calling up Dylan Lucas to struggle in defence on his non-preferred right edge in the back row?

Perhaps it was Daley’s call to not start Cameron Murray, or to play Blues metre eater Addin Fonua-Blake for only nine minutes in NSW’s 44-24 game-two capitulation in Melbourne that levelled the series.

Or how about Daley’s decision not to use game breaker Api Koroisau at all, leaving Reece Robson to play 80 minutes at dummy-half?

The truth is it is hard to quantify.

The reality is Daley’s contentious selection calls are being pilloried for good reason, having left NSW in serious jeopardy of becoming the first team in Origin’s storied 46-year history to surrender 1-0 leads in successive series.

The most confounding of Daley’s deliverances was arguably relegating Origin I hero Ethan Strange, the catalyst for NSW’s inspired comeback win over Queensland from 20-0 down in game one, to gamble on the underdone Mitch Moses as Nathan Cleary’s deputy playmaker on Wednesday night.

It is one thing to go back to the well for a fully-fit and proven Origin performer like Moses.

But, as even Daley himself conceded pre-game, a complete “risk” to bank on a suspect player carrying a hamstring injury for more than a month.

Moses didn’t train with the team until Saturday, having previously been on restricted duties while rehabbing his hamstring.

Daley seemingly could not recognise the incredible similarities between himself and Strange, who was only injected into the MCG mauling with 16 minutes to go and NSW trailing by 14.

Daley was a teenager when he debuted for NSW in 1989, two years younger than when fellow strong-running Canberra five-eighth Strange was handed his first Origin start for the Blues last month.

Only time will tell if Strange goes on to emulate Daley’s decorated playing career, featuring five series wins for the Blues, if ever given another opportunity.

“They’ve got to play outside the structure. At this level, against the best of the best, there is no weaknesses in the defensive line,” NSW great and rugby league’s eighth Immortal Andrew Johns lamented during Nine commentary.

“You have to have the ability to play outside the structure.

“Cam Murray has to start, Api needs to be used at some stage off the bench and 100 per cent (Olakau’atu has to come back in).”

What is fast becoming more certain is that Daley’s legacy is being tarnished by his increasingly poor coaching record.

Unless NSW turn the tables and pull off an upset win over Queensland in Brisbane on July 8, Daley will have presided over six series defeats as coach – three more than Craig Bellamy and Brad Fittler, who at least also won three shields during his six-year stint at the helm.

“Thanks for bringing up that record,” Daley cringed pre-game two.

“It’s not great, is it?”

Even worse is the damning stat that Daley’s NSW sides have had nine chances to clinch a series, but only won one of those games – way back in 2014.

But is it Daley or the NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) who should be accountable for the Blues’ precarious predicament?

When one-series wonder Michael Maguire stood down after NSW’s 2024 triumph, it is said officials wanted John Cartwright as his successor.

After Cartwright moved to the English Super League, the NSWRL opted to only interview Daley and his now-assistant Matt King.

What Daley said in that interview to convince powerbrokers that he was the right man should be a point of interest.

Since taking charge, the 55-year-old is yet to show he is doing anything different to his first five-year stint that yielded just one series success.

Revered for possessing one of the sharpest brains in the game, Daley is also respected as one of rugby league’s nicest guys. But maybe he is too nice?

Daley’s decision to pick Strange for game one and recall James Tedesco, who delivered the match-winning try in Sydney, were rightly praised.

But his unwavering loyalty to Moses, a fine servant for the Blues but hardly Joey Johns, might explain why he opted to recall the Parramatta playmaker, despite his fitness concerns, and bench Strange.

Whatever his reasons, Daley has been utterly shown up this series by Billy Slater’s coaching masterclass.

A picture of energy and authority in the Queensland coaches’ box, Slater is proving the antithesis to the anxious-looking and uncertain Daley.

While Slater made the bold decision to overlook Reece Walsh, Queensland’s most popular player by the length of Townsville to Toowoomba, Daley seemingly didn’t have the same gumption to not pick Moses.

Slater’s gut calls to also plump for the likes of unsung talents Murray Taulagi, Robert Toia, Trent Loiero, Briton Nikora and Max Plath and generally manage his sides since taking the reins have been lauded.

“The way Bill picked the side, he learned from game one and learned his lessons,” former teammate and fellow Maroons great Greg Inglis said.

“You never know what’s going to happen in Origins. It’s a whole different ball game. It’s a different beast.

“He’s a winner; he doesn’t do anything half-hearted.”

Inglis also credits Slater’s long playing career under master mentor Bellamy at Melbourne for the fullback’s transition to an accomplished Origin coach.

“I’ve seen the stuff he does behind the scenes. His work ethic, the way he does video, the way he makes you understand it from his point of view,” Inglis said.

“You see a lot of great players that want to be coaches but just can’t relate. Billy’s the opposite. He can relate to a squad, the individual.

“We all know what he’s like with video – I think he’s got a whole cinema just with footy tapes. He’s unreal.

“In Queensland and Billy, we trust. And in Melbourne and Billy, we trust. I can see him being Craig’s successor (at the Storm).”

Chatter about Daley’s successor is already bubbling. With Ivan Cleary’s premiership-laden stint at Penrith over at the end of the 2027 NRL season, the Blues have some big decisions to make.