Newly appointed Queensland assistant coach Cameron Smith has put New South Wales on notice, warning the Maroons will hit back in 2022 following last year’s record series loss to the Blues.
After months of speculation, Smith is back in Camp Maroon, with the NRL Immortal-in-waiting agreeing to join new Origin mentor Billy Slater and his assistants Johnathan Thurston and Josh Hannay as part of Queensland’s coaching dream team this season.
The acquisition of Smith is enormous.
No man tasted victory in the Origin arena more than the legendary Queensland hooker.
Smith won a staggering 11 of 15 series, including six as skipper, and he retired from the Maroons at the end of 2017 as the most-capped player in Origin history with 42 appearances, a record that may never be beaten.
Now Smith is back in a coaching capacity, and the fierce competitor in the former Queensland skipper is determined to ensure the Maroons do not suffer the humiliation they endured during a drama-charged 2021 campaign.
The Maroons copped a 50-6 hiding in Game One in Townsville last year, Queensland’s worst ever Origin defeat.
Then came a dismal 26-0 shutout at Suncorp Stadium that saw the Blues clinch the Origin shield, before Queensland’s face-saving 20-18 win in the Game Three dead rubber.
NSW will start 2022 as red-hot favourites to win a fourth series in five years, but the sight of Smith walking into Camp Maroon will be formidable.
As a player, he drove high performance. He sets the highest of standards. He will not tolerate the Maroons meekly folding in defence this season.
“I’m confident the Queensland players available to wear the jersey in 2022 will stand up and be counted for when it matters,” Smith said.
“The one thing I have learnt from my time in the Queensland team is that we never turn our back on each other – we stay strong.
“You will see a very different Queensland side this year.
“We all love to win, but no matter what the result, I want the Queensland fans to be proud of the guys that wear the Maroon jumper.”
While Slater will oversee the Queensland program as head coach, Smith’s input will be vital.
He will be tasked with organising Queensland’s engine room in the middle of the park and dummy-half region, an area in which he proved peerless during his record 430-game tenure as a hooking genius in the NRL at Melbourne.
Smith is relishing the prospect of working with the Maroons’ next generation of young guns, including Queensland hooker Harry Grant, who was his understudy at the Storm.
“It’s a jersey and a team that I’m extremely proud of and passionate about,” said Smith, who retired from the NRL after skippering Melbourne to the 2020 premiership.
“Bill (Slater) is the boss, there’s no doubt about that, so I will be guided by Bill and what he needs from me.
“I’m also passionate about Queensland people and our state and making sure that they feel success, and they can be proud of their football side when we represent them.
“If I can help in some way and give the players the opportunity to be at their best on game night and help or assist Billy to be the best coach he can be, then that’s my role.”
Slater says Smith’s professionalism, unrivalled will-to-win and football intellect will be huge assets as the Maroons look to build a new winning era.
“I’ve hired experts in their fields,” Slater said of his assistants Smith, Thurston and Hannay, the former Cowboys and Maroons goalkicking centre who works as an NRL assistant coach at Cronulla.
“No-one knows the middle of the field as well as Cameron Smith.
“If you look at what he brought as a player and a leader, I think that’s also what he can bring as a member of the coaching staff.
“Some people have this aura about them, and Cameron Smith is one of those people.
“He didn’t have to say a lot as captain of the Queensland State of Origin team, you felt it more than anything … you felt his presence.”