Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Tennis
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Daley has shot to finally put Maroon dynasty behind him
Scott Bailey, AAP • June 18th, 2025 8:00 am
Laurie Daley | Photo: AAP
Eleven years to the day since his finest moment as a State of Origin coach, Laurie Daley finally has the chance to put Queensland's great dynasty behind him.
With a sold-out crowd of 60,000 fans expected at Optus Stadium, NSW can make it two straight State of Origin series wins with victory on Wednesday night.
Success in Perth will set the Blues up for a shot at their own era of dominance, with the better side on paper and the Maroons in a state of flux.
But Wednesday also looms as a chance for Daley to make the past the past.
Daley's return to the NSW coaching job this year brought with it a lasting link to the Blues' toughest era, when they dropped 11 of 12 series between 2006 and 2017.
The Canberra legend was coach for five of those years, repeatedly on the end of beatings from a Maroons side that remains the greatest in Origin history.
Payne Haas | Photo: AAP
Success did come once for Daley and NSW, exactly 11 years ago on June 18 in 2014.
Like this year, NSW reigned supreme at Suncorp Stadium in the series opener, but eight straight years of defeat meant another false prophecy was always probable.
Such was the magnitude of NSW's win in game two, secured by a late Trent Hodkinson try, it remains the favourite Origin memory of many of the current team.
"That was a very special night for all of us in NSW, and something we really want to do too on Wednesday night," prop Payne Haas said.
"I just remember Queensland always winning, and going to school the next day it was so crap and you'd always be depressed.
"But I remember that night like yesterday, it was so cool jumping around at home with my parents at Newcastle."
NSW's 18th man Matt Burton added: "That has to be my favourite moment.
"Just (seeing) Trent Hodkinson score that winning try and breaking the drought."
Angus Crichton recalled celebrating at boarding school, while Reece Robson remembers the relief after a years of copping it from Queensland fans in Tweed Heads.
For those involved, NSW's 2014 win also continues to hold a special place, with Daley central to all memories.
How Andrew Webster lured Sam Healey to the Warriors | Running It Straight
The coach's embrace with long-suffering captain Paul Gallen also lives long in the hearts of players, as fireworks erupted over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
"It was the ultimate time," Gallen said.
"To be able to share that with Laurie Daley, it was such a good moment.
"It was unbelievable. Winning the premiership probably topped it, but there was nothing like the emotion of that night."
For Hodkinson, that win remains the ultimate fairytale.
The Blues half is still one of the great bolters to wear the No.7 jersey, going from out of the frame to the most important role in the team in the space of months.
"Loz (Daley) said to me at the time, 'You need to be the calm out there in that chaos'," Hodkinson recalled.
"He knew that that was the type of player I was. I was pretty laid back, and I could just, under high pressure situations, I could remain calm.
"And at the end there, that's what I had to do. The way he delivered his message, it just gave the players a lot of confidence in that regard."
Wednesday will also mark a milestone for Maroons coach Billy Slater, with his 42nd birthday.
It was Slater and Cameron Smith's 31st birthdays when Queensland's great streak was broken that night at Accor Stadium.
Slater and the Maroons desperately need Wednesday night to end better. No Queensland coach has previously survived two straight series losses.
