Billy Slater steps down as Queensland coach in shock Maroons exit
Queensland Rugby League is searching for a new State of Origin coach after Billy Slater walked away from the Maroons role on Friday afternoon. The
Queensland Rugby League is searching for a new State of Origin coach after Billy Slater walked away from the Maroons role on Friday afternoon. The move lands hard. Queensland had been signalling he would stay on for 2027, making the exit a genuine jolt for a team that had only just regained the Shield.
QRL confirmed Slater’s departure and said it would begin the process of appointing his replacement immediately. The timing adds sting to the decision. Queensland chief executive Ben Ikin had told NewsWire last month that everything was “pointing in the right direction”.
A successful five-season run ends
Slater leaves after five seasons in charge, with a record that stacks up well by Origin standards. He guided Queensland to series wins in 2022, 2023 and 2025, while New South Wales claimed the 2024 campaign. His final series ended in defeat after Queensland lost the opener, regrouped in Game Two and forced a decider. That last match now stands as his final game as Maroons coach.
It had seemed likely he would return. Very likely.
That was partly because talk had swirled around a possible move into NRL coaching, with speculation Slater could replace Craig Bellamy at Melbourne after the Storm coach disclosed a neurodegenerative disorder diagnosis. But Bellamy confirmed last week he would stay on at Melbourne for another year, and also said 2027 may be his final season in charge.
Queensland faces a new search
That development effectively closed the door on any short-term move into club coaching and left Slater positioned to continue with Queensland. Instead, the Maroons now have to find a new leader just as the build-up to the next Origin cycle begins. The search starts now.
Slater’s exit ends a run that began before the 2022 series and brought Queensland back into contention quickly. For a state built on Origin pride, the change is not minor. It changes the mood, the planning and the questions around who takes over next.
And for Queensland, the next chapter begins with one blunt fact: Slater won three series and lost two in five campaigns at the helm.
