Origin breaks even the greatest. Now it’s set to be faster and harder

May 2, 2026 — 11:30am

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

When State of Origin coaches Laurie Daley (NSW) and Billy Slater (Queensland) take their seats in the coaches box at Accor Stadium on May 27, it will be the first game they have coached under the NRL’s new rules.

An expanded bench and an increase in the remit of six agains has challenged NRL coaches, some of whom are still making wrong replacements after two months of the season. So Loz and Billy must cope with the added pressure of an even faster game and more tactical options in an annual contest that captivates a vast audience.

Their brutal agenda is: Origin I – coach first game of the year, and under new rules; Origin II – the loser must win to level the series; Origin III – win the title.

As current Australia coach and former Maroons mentor Kevin Walters said: “Tactically you have to be very smart in Origin, and even more so now. The pace of Origin is super fast, quicker than the NRL, and the new six again rules make you wonder how can Origin be faster?”

Daley won’t have Craig Bellamy to assist either as he devotes attention to the struggling Storm. A former Blues coach, Bellamy said: “We all have our planned rotations on who to bring off and when and their replacements, but there is often something you can’t plan for, and it’s more likely to happen in Origin.”

Daley will have NRL assistants Matt King and Brett White, as well as Boyd Cordner, but the head coach must be the ultimate decision maker on tactical changes and reading the body language of exhausted players.

Nor will Slater have Josh Hannay, now with the Titans, but he told the Herald his assistants “will be the same as last year.” Asked........

© Brisbane Times