Wayne Bennett is on the verge of one of his finest coaching achievements with Queensland one win away from reclaiming the State of Origin shield.
Bennett is arguably the greatest coach of all-time, with seven premierships and five Origin series wins.
At the moment, his effort with nine Queensland rookies in 2001 and his masterstroke to help Brisbane to the 2006 premiership with Shane Perry at halfback are among his greatest feats.
But if the Maroons clinch one of the next two games to take the series, it will almost certainly torpedo all of his other achievements.
Down 10-0 at half-time in Wednesday’s series opener after heading into the match with eight rookies and biggest Origin outsiders in more than 20 years, most had written off the Maroons.
All except those in Queensland’s sheds.
Captain Daly Cherry-Evans stood up in the second half and was immense.
Cameron Munster shrugged off his premiership hangover and scored one try and had a hand in another.
Centre Kurt Capewell was brilliant. He was rock solid in defence, pressuring the Blues in the second half, and laid on the first try for fellow rookie AJ Brimson with a bust and kick.
Dane Gagai produced the kind of performance he is renowned for at Origin level, while another rookie, hooker Jake Friend finished with 52 tackles.
“I was proud of them,” Bennett said.
“I wasn’t worried about the self-belief. They put a maroon jersey on and they know the expectation that comes with it.
“They trained excellently for 10 days, I knew that self-belief wasn’t going to beat them tonight.
“10-0 was always beatable … I thought we won it in the first half because we hung in there.”
Bennett wouldn’t categorise Wednesday’s win to be one of the Maroons’ or his best, knowing there are still two crucial games ahead.
Queensland were in the same position last year, up 1-0 in the series, before they went down 2-1.
But they will be stronger again next week at ANZ Stadium.
Valentine Holmes is due back from suspension and will play at either fullback or on the wing, while Corey Allan is also available.
Brenko Lee should also be fit if required after missing with a calf strain, while Capewell is expected to have no issue shrugging off a groin complaint that ended his night early.
“It’s a bit like a horse trainer, you have to see how they all pull up. You’ve only got seven days,” Bennett said.
“Experience makes you better, they will be better.
“They just have to be tough enough mentally to come back and want to repeat what they did tonight. They have to do that.
“The team that has been beaten will have a better attitude than what they did tonight.”
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Go for it. There was a guy called Arthur Halloway who was a pretty good coach in the early days with 8 premierships across 2 clubs. He might fit into your ‘daylight’, otherwise I fully agree. Warren Ryan, Bellamy head up the next tier.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Can I have your permission to copy and paste your comment whenever the great coaches debate comes up. It's Bennett then Gibson then daylight for all the reasons you outline.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
I hope this article and his results put recent discussions to bed. Bennett is the best, ever, along with Gibson and maybe one other from days gone by. I recognise the level Bellamy and to a lesser extent Robo have reached, but neither have achieved success at multiple clubs nor taken rep teams to the top. Bellamy had a shot with the Blues and was ordinary. Both Bellamy and Robo have had the backing of a solid, successful club with good management, systems and support staff. Just as Bennett did in his early years with the Broncos when they were on top and his results were just as good if not better. Then he has moved and taken every team he comes to into competitive levels immediately. People dismiss the Bunnies last two years as being underperforming, but he took a team most 'experts' didn't have in their 8 almost into a GF with more than a few major injuries and look at the last 2 GF winners - chooks and Melbourne, hardly a shame to lose out to those two. Bellamy is outstanding but isn't on Wayne's level and Robo is even further back. I doubt either could have pulled this off.
Adam
Roar Guru
He plays the media like a fiddle. The players love him cause they know he gets the attention off them
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
I have friends who won't listen to anything good said about him but that dislike comes from the media coverage The media must have their villains as well as heroes and Bennett is very good at playing them.
Adam
Roar Guru
Some of his players selected aren't even in the best 13 at his club. It was fantastic
Adam
Roar Guru
It's only perceived by the media surely?
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Walters is toast, the matey, old boys club thing won't get him or the Broncos anywhere near the top 8 in 2021, 22, 23....If he was the Maroons coach this year, the Blues would be up 3-0. Bennett knows this and that's why when he took over a few weeks ago he cleaned the slate, got rid of several of the matey/ old boys like McGuire, Hodges, etc and then selected players and a team that only a master coach like Bennett could do.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Queensland won this Origin 1 2020 game purely and only because of Bennett. No one else could have done what he did. While its ok to win as a coach when you have Inglis. Slater, Smith, Thurston, Cronk et al, but this Maroons side had players running on the field that most would have struggled to recognise, and with so many untested rookies and 2 weeks out, that is nothing but a masterclass in coaching.
Pickett
Roar Rookie
The argument of Gibson v Bennett could go all night at a pub. As an Easts and NSW fan, naturally I'm more biased toward Gibbo. It's like asking who is the better quarterback between Joe Montanna and Tom Brady - it's more a pub debate than anything else.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Bennett is the modern day equivalent of Jack Gibson. Doesn’t say too much however possesses the uncanny ability to “lift “ players who in turn play above themselves in big games. As an Easts fan I recall Jack bringing in unheralded players: Reg Clough, John Rheinberger & Grant Hedger (relying on my memory) & all performed well. Some sporting teams could “coach themselves” if they full of experienced stars however there are some coaches who throughout their career are never afforded such a luxury & should be assessed accordingly.
Emcie
Roar Guru
If Walters doesn't win the comp with Brisbane next year it'll be the final nail in his coffin
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
I'll be happy with just one more premiership win from him, at the Rabbitohs of course He is a legend. I think a lot of people won't acknowledge that because of his perceived prickly nature.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Come on mate - everyone knows that the only criteria by which Bennett’s coaching can be judged is how the team performs after he stops coaching them.
The Barry
Roar Guru
For some reason the debate about whether Bennett is a good coach seems to be a popular topic on the roar This was another Bennett masterstroke but let’s be honest if seven premierships, five origins, constant semi final appearances and all his other achievements won’t convince people he can coach, I doubt one more against all odds Origin win will either