New South Wales are once again on the lookout for a coach after Michael Maguire’s exit.
In his brief time with the team, he led them to their first State of Origin series victory since 2021. He was released from his final contracted year with the Blues and is now set to join the Brisbane Broncos.
SEN’s Matty Johns revealed his picks for the head coach position on SEN 1170 The Run Home.
“I think Ricky (Stuart),” Johns said. “I think State of Origin is the domain of an experienced coach, (a) bloke who’s coach-fit.”
Johns stressed the importance of experience by comparing Maroons coach Billy Slater against Maguire. He noted that despite his successful run as the head coach of Queensland with little to no coaching experience, Slater seemed to struggle against experienced coaches.
“I know with Billy, (he) hasn’t been a long-time coach and had a lot of head coaching experience but Slater absolutely coached himself up to speed, they reckon he spent six to eight hours a day watching tape,” Johns added.
“But here’s the thing with Billy, I’m going to try to say this respectfully, in his first two years he coached against Freddy (Fittler) who was another part-timer.
“Billy found it very, very difficult, completely different this year coaching against Madge, who is a hardened, first-grade, week-to-week coach who’s got a mile of experience.
“I honestly believe that the head coaching job when it comes to State of Origin, it has to be the domain of a coach who is coach fit and is experienced.”
Some of the names in the mix include Michael Ennis, Paul McGregor, Laurie Daley and even former coach Brad Fittler, rumoured to make the return.
