Billy the kid vs Greeny
PAUL Green and Billy Slater are on a collision course for the Maroons coaching job, with Queensland powerbrokers to decide on Friday who replaces Wayne Bennett in the Origin hot seat.
The Queensland Rugby League board will hold its annual general meeting on Friday and is expected to have a fierce debate over the Maroons’ next leader.
With Bennett vacating the post after his fairytale 2020 cameo, QRL directors must decide on a replacement.
Green, the former Cowboys coach and 2015 NRL premiership winner, was considered the frontrunner for the role and has the support of QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher.
He has already been interviewed for the job by Hatcher and QRL managing director Robert Moore.
However, sections of the QRL board are pushing for Slater to make a shock rise to the Origin post immediately.
A former Maroons representative, Green, 48, has the runs on the board in a coaching sense, boasting an impressive resume.
But after being sacked by the Cowboys last year, Green still has aspirations to coach in the NRL again, which has left some QRL directors nervous about his availability for the 2021 series. If chosen, Green will have to guarantee the QRL he will see through the June-July series regardless of whether an NRL coaching job becomes available early in the season.
If he cannot commit to that, then Slater will be in the box seat to become Queensland’s next Origin coach.
Slater, 37, played 31 Origin games for Queensland and is regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks in history.
He has a sensational football brain and is a student of the game who prepared meticulously for matches.
Without any immediate desire to coach in the NRL, Slater is viewed as a potentially longterm appointment who could guide Queensland’s emerging generation of talent.
Green is being considered for a possible one-series appointment, with Slater to be groomed for the top job in 2022.
But sections of the QRL want to rip the Band-Aid off and appoint Slater immediately to oversee a new era.
Maroons legend Wally Lewis said it was a difficult decision for the QRL to make.
“It is one of the toughest jobs in the game to coach and win an Origin series,” he said.
Slater has privately earned praise from influential figures in Mal Meninga, Craig Bellamy and Cameron Smith.