Queensland Maroons head coach Billy Slater has moved to silence rumours concerning his future in the Origin arena after a surprise Game 3 loss at home.
Slater was gunning for his fourth Origin series in five starts as Maroons coach on Wednesday evening, but instead found himself conceding a second defeat in a series decider in three years on his home turf at Suncorp Stadium.
The coach was quizzed post-game about his future, but said there had been too much talk around the role, and seemed to clarify he wasn't about to jump ship unless someone more suited to the role came along.
"There has been way too much talk about me. This is not about me. I'm here to help this team, and while I feel I can commit to that, I'll be here," Slater said during his post-match press conference.
"If someone else is better for the position, I'm more than willing to help them out too.
"I said what I said because I mean it. It's not a position for me to want to take long-term; it's a position because I care about this footy team. I did when I was five years old, and I still do today. While I can still help and add value to the team, I'll consider being here."
Slater has been heavily linked to the head coaching job at the Melbourne Storm in the coming years; however, his appetite for coaching full-time in the NRL is not clear yet.
The coach was also quizzed after the game on whether he'd use the loss to motivate his players for next year, but said it was a weird feeling.
"My mind hasn't gone there yet [to motivating for next year]," Slater said.
"It's a weird feeling. There is no other game for ten and a half months, so it's hard to take your mind there.
"One area that I did take my mind to is how proud I am of the people that play in this Queensland team. I'm proud of the people that they are, the togetherness that they show to play for Queensland. I'm super proud of that.
"The efforts and commitment that they put in, I can't question. That's one thing I told them after the game."
The head coach, who was outworked by his counterpart Laurie Daley in the decider, admitted his side wasn't good enough.
Although he didn't agree with suggestions that complacency was an issue.
"It's hard to say, but I thought the fight in our team was there. Like I said, we scored a try, it got taken off us with ten minutes to go. We get those plays right, and it's a different ball game. There was quite a few of them, I think we made 14 errors, so it doesn't help. I'm not sure about complacency; I didn't see that during the week or in the performance to be honest," Slater said.
