Laurie Daley returns for his second stint as New South Wales coach – and Blues fans are hoping for improvement on his first rodeo.
TWELVE years ago, Laurie Daley’s job was to bring down a dynasty. Now, his job is to build one.
The former New South Wales stand off returns to coach his state for a second time, in very different circumstances to the first.
Daley successfully halted Queensland’s run of eight straight State of Origin series victories in 2014, but a string of crushing defeats thereafter tainted his first five years as Blues boss.
Now he inherits a strong side in possession of the Origin shield … as well as the expectation that comes with favouritism.
Michael Maguire masterminded a shock series victory in 2024, before being released from the second year of his contract to take over the Brisbane Broncos this season.
That has handed Daley a golden opportunity to improve on his record as coach, and add to his impressive legacy as a player.
The 1990s and early 2000s is the only period in Origin history when the team from south of the border was the dominant force.
Between 1990 and 2005, NSW won 10 series, drew two, and lost just four.
Daley was a constant as a player throughout the ’90s, captaining his state to three straight series triumphs with the number six on his back between 1992 and 1994.
After calling time on his rep playing career in 1999, he joined the coaching staff of Phil Gould — often Daley’s coach during that ’90s golden era — for another three-peat between 2002 and 2004.
The Origin arena Daley walked into as head coach was unrecognisable.
Daley first assumed the clipboard in 2013, tasked with stopping the strongest side in Origin history.
Queensland had claimed seven series in a row since Mal Meninga became coach in 2006, thanks largely to a nucleus of all-time greats like Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.
Meninga had seen off Graham Murray, Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart in the opposition coach’s box before Daley stepped up to the plate.
The new coach’s first game is best remembered for Paul Gallen’s flurry of punches against Nate Myles, as the Blues ground out a low-scoring win on home turf.
But the Maroons produced a signature series comeback to retain the shield yet again, claiming the decider by a mere two points.
Twelve months later, David finally slayed Goliath by the same margin.
Having clung on to a 12-8 victory in enemy territory to open the series, the Blues clinched the silverware with an attritional 6-4 win at an ecstatic Sydney Olympic Stadium.
The miserly scorelines reveal Daley’s straightforward game plan based on defence and desperation.
NSW couldn’t match Queensland for talent, so their only hope was dragging them into an arm wrestle and simply wanting it more.
The stirring Game One triumph was defined by a slew of injuries.
Trent Hodkinson broke his nose. Anthony Watmough hurt his biceps. Paul Gallen needed neck scans.
And twins Brett and Josh Morris stayed on the park despite suffering a dislocated shoulder and a knee injury respectively — the former pulling off a try-saving tackle on Darius Boyd that goes down in Origin folklore.
In Game Two, Daley’s trust of workmanlike halves Josh Reynolds and Hodkinson paid off, when unheralded Canterbury halfback Hodkinson dummied his way through for the series-sealing try with nine minutes remaining.
However, 2014 goes down as Daley’s only series win from five attempts.
The following campaign ended with a 52-6 humiliation in the decider at Suncorp Stadium — the biggest thumping in Origin history, and a fitting conclusion to Meninga’s 10 years at the helm.
New Maroons boss Kevin Walters — Daley’s opposite number at interstate level so often throughout the 1990s — picked up where Meninga left off, wrapping up his maiden series in the first two games.
Although 2017 was even more crushing.
Daley picked a new-look team to begin the post-Gallen era, which romped home in Brisbane in Game One, then led 16-6 at half-time on Game Two.
NSW had one hand on the shield again, until Thurston — hampered by a shoulder injury — still managed to wrench it away.
The Queenslanders stole the Sydney clash by a last-gasp Thurston conversion then claimed a straightforward decider … and with it, ended Daley’s five-year tenure.
As the Queensland legends bowed out one by one, Brad Fittler’s Blues earned the ascendancy on paper.
But Fittler’s six series only yielded a below-par two wins, before Maguire’s stunning sole season in charge.
Like the appointment of Maguire 12 months ago, it feels like Daley’s appointment is driven by a lack of alternatives. NSWRL officials seemed to shrug their shoulders are say, ‘who else?’.
While Queensland have a production line of graduates from the Meninga era they could call upon, NSW’s cupboard is barer.
When Maguire inked his Broncos move, no shortage of names were tossed up … but none stood out.
Paul McGregor, John Cartwright, Trent Barrett, Nathan Brown and Brad Arthur all have patchy NRL records, while highly rated assistant Matt King has no first-grade experience at all.
Geoff Toovey and Danny Buderus boast good credentials but have drifted out of the game’s consciousness.
Many higher-profile NSW figures — Paul Gallen, Michael Ennis and the Johns brothers — appear more comfortable in the media than throwing their hat in the coaching ring.
Strong candidates like Stuart, Ivan Cleary, Craig Bellamy and Craig Fitzgibbon are wrapped up in club commitments.
In the end, Daley got the nod — and Maguire has left him solid foundations to build on.
‘Madge’ made wholesale changes to the personnel that struggled for consistency under Fittler, doling out eight debuts to rejuvenate the Blues’ squad.
Daley will now benefit from those brave calls, especially with his line-up is bolstered by gun halfback Nathan Cleary, who played no part in the 2024 campaign due to injury.
Blues fans aren’t exactly inspired by the appointment of another new coach. But they’ll be hoping, for a second year in a row, to be pleasantly surprised by what the fresh boss delivers.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 508 (May 2025)
