Billy Slater will reportedly remain on as the Queensland Maroons coach for the 2024 State of Origin series after consecutive series victories in 2022 and 2023.
Revealed by The Courier Mail, Slater will stay on as the Queensland coach for the 2024 State of Origin series and is a near certainty to be back for the 2025 Origin series as well. The decision comes after back-to-back series wins and after Slater's management spoke with Queensland Rugby League boss Ben Ikin on Thursday.
Despite not formally putting pen to paper and inking a new contract, the news will put a smile on the faces of Queensland fans. Especially considering that Slater's future was filled with uncertainty after the conclusion of the 2023 State of Origin series.
“We've established that Billy wants to keep coaching the Maroons,” Ikin told the publication.
“Now we'll work through the specifics of how that looks, both for Billy and the QRL.”
Former Melbourne Storm and Queensland teammate Cameron Smith admitted that he believes Slater is slowly making a name for himself as a coach and could cultivate the same status as Mal Meninga - Queensland's most successful coach with nine titles between 2006-15 - if his winning ways continue.
“He now has that same aura about him as Mal Meninga. People shouldn't be surprised by Billy's success (as Queensland coach)," Smith told The Courier Mail.
“I am certainly not. Having known Billy for such a long time, I know the dedication he has to the work that he is a part of.
“I saw it first-hand as a player and as his teammate. He wouldn't have thought he would be the coach of the Queensland Maroons, but he has dived straight into the job.
“The amount of time and effort and preparation that he has put into every single player who has pulled on a Maroons jersey over the last two series is remarkable.”