South Sydney Rabbitohs head coach Wayne Bennett has addressed a potential return to coaching the Queensland Maroons in the 2027 State of Origin series and has offered to put his hand up if Queensland Rugby League cannot find a suitable replacement for Billy Slater.
Billy Slater recently confirmed that he will not return to coach the Maroons, and the QRL has started its search for potential candidates to be Queensland's next coach.
Cameron Smith and Kevin Walters, who were favorites to be Slater's potential replacement next year, have withdrawn their interest in the opportunity.
The Courier Mail has reported that Ben Te'o, the current Maroons assistant, has offers from the South Sydney Rabbitohs and St Helens and is leaning towards a return to the NRL coaching arena.
Wayne Bennett has coached the Maroons four times from 1986 to 2020 and is currently under contract with the Rabbitohs until the end of the 2027 season.
When asked whether he would want to coach the Maroons, Bennett stated one circumstance in which he would take up the chance for the fifth time.
“Obviously, I love Queensland, so if they can't get a coach, yes, I will consider it,” Bennett said.
“There's a number of options, so they shouldn't have a problem finding someone else.
“I'm not overly interested, but if they are having trouble finding someone, of course I would look at it (helping out).
“I think they have a policy where club coaches can't coach Origin, but I don't know where it stands now.”
The QRL Chairman, Brian Canavan, explained there was no policy regarding Bennett coaching both sides in the season, but was aware of the concern from the Rabbitohs would be about his time away from the club in the middle of the season.
“There's no policy as such,” Canavan said.
“It's just the practicalities of it.
“Coaches are employed by their NRL clubs of course and that's a consideration for us.”
Bennett coached the Maroons in 2020 to their famous series win during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Paul Gallen, NSW Blues legend called the Queensland team the "worst Maroons team in 40 years."
In that series, he debuted 14 players, and was offered to coach the team in 2021, but wanted to focus on his role with the Rabbitohs.
In 2021, he would take the Rabbitohs side to the Grand Final, losing 14-12 to the Penrith Panthers at Suncorp Stadium.
“We won the series in that Covid season in 2020 and the QRL wanted me to stay on, but I know the impact Origin coaching has on a club and I didn't want to interrupt Souths' 2021 season,” he said.
“It worked out pretty well because we went on to make the grand final for Souths.
“It (juggling two roles) definitely has an impact.
“It's the most stressful job of all coaching Origin. Expectations are so high, it's a tough gig to try and juggle NRL coaching with Origin, especially with all the scrutiny these days.”
Matt Ballin, the Brisbane Broncos assistant and Darius Boyd, who coached the Queensland U-19s side this year, have both expressed their desire to coach the Maroons in 2027.
