GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 15: Coaches Mal Meniga and Wayne Bennett talk during a Queensland Maroons state of origin training session at Cbus Super Stadium on November 15, 2020 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The Queensland Rugby League are weighing up the future of their State of Origin coaching roles, with Maroons coach Wayne Bennett remaining contracted to South Sydney for a further 12 months, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
Following on from Queensland's historic series win on Wednesday, the QRL are contemplating whether the senior roles for both the male and female sides should be part-time or full-time.
Bennett has hinted he would be willing to share his commitments with the Rabbitohs as well as keeping his post with the Maroons, but the opportunity would only remain alive if the QRL appoint the job as a part-time role.
The QRL are set to open a wide-ranging review into their senior coaching roles, with recommendations deciding which path to take.
Bennett enters his final year with the Rabbitohs next season as assistant Jason Demetriou is planned as the supercoach's successor for the 2022 season.
The Queensland coach will need to sway the Rabbitohs board in allowing him to share his time with the Maroons as Origin is set to return to the mid-season.
QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher labeled the full-time/part-time decision as a "dilemma".
"Once we decide whether it's full-time or part-time we'll test the market," Hatcher said. "We've got a process in place.
"Wayne would have to be available, and if we decide we want to appoint a coach for two years, he would have to make a commitment for two years.
"His CV isn't bad and if his body and mind is willing, I'm sure he'll put his name forward. We've got a full board that wants to have an opinion and deserves to have an opinion.
"With the benefit of hindsight, if he could do what he did this year for the next two years, we'd all be over the moon. But the reality is he may decide there's been a significant amount of pressure on what he's had to do.
"If we said we needed a prominent and experienced coach to look after Origin as well as our performance and pathways project, that would make it a full-time job, so it wouldn't be able to be an NRL coach."
If the QRL moves in favour of a full-time role, former North Queensland coach Paul Green is believed to be the frontrunner for the job.