Laurie Daley confirms Origin departure – and nominates the coach who should succeed him

Laurie Daley says it was “just the right time” to walk away from the NSW Origin coaching job – and nominated his assistant Matt King as the man he wanted to succeed him as the next Blues’ boss.

As reported by this masthead on Sunday afternoon, Daley confirmed on Monday morning via his Sky Sports’ Radio Big Sports Breakfast program he would not renew his Origin deal.

He became frustrated last week when News Corp reported that he had quit due to health concerns, which he quickly denied, but only after several family members had become concerned and contacted him.

Daley was glad he got to bow out with a series win that was sealed with a victory on Queensland soil.

“I feel like now is the right time for someone else to have the opportunity to lead this great state and this great team,” Daley said.

“It’s just the right time.

“You always have to be careful that you don’t make decisions based on emotion. You have to think things through. When we won game three, you sit back, reflect, which is why I didn’t want to make the announcement straight away.

“Over the last couple of weeks, from where I was going into the series, to where I was after the game, it hadn’t changed.

“I knew my commitment to the team was for that two-year period.

“I felt like it was the best time to leave – it was the best time to pass the baton onto someone else.”

NSW Rugby League officials have already interviewed several candidates, with a decision to be made as early as Wednesday, and possibly Tuesday.

King, fellow assistant Boyd Cordner, Brett White, as well as Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns have all been listed as candidates – but Daley was a fan of Sydney Roosters’ assistant King. Johns has consistently denied having any interest in the job.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have some wonderful coaches on my staff the last two years, and they were there with Michael Maguire in 2024,” Daley said.

“Guys like Matt King, Boyd Cordner, Brett White – they are guys that are first-grade coaches in waiting,” Daley said.

“My senior assistant was Matt King. Matty King is a first-grade coach now, he’s ready to go.

“I don’t know what NSW Rugby League are going to do, I don’t know who they’re going to appoint, but I would like to see a guy like Matt King take over the role because I think he’s been there, he’s had great input into what we’ve been able to do the last three years.”

King has excellent communication skills, is popular with the players and has been a part of the Blues’ coaching set-up since being brought on board by Michael Maguire for the 2024 series.

Penrith’s Ivan Cleary will finish at the Panthers at the end of 2027 and has spoken about his desire to move into coaching representative teams, but he has already ruled himself out of the NSW job for next year. It also remains to be seen if Cleary is ready to jump straight into the Origin cauldron in 2028, or opts for a break from coaching.

Johns’ brother Matthew Johns joked before Origin III that he would happily help out if Andrew was serious about the role.

Phil Gould said of Andrew Johns taking charge: “He probably should do it, because he’s going to get to some stage in his life where he probably wished he did.”

Daley added, when he sat opposite Johns on the Freddy and the Eighth podcast: “You’d be able to do it easily if you had the right people around you.

“The one thing I love about Joey is he’s passionate. Even throughout the series we would speak, and he’d send me clips, and when you’ve got someone like Andrew Johns showing you stuff, you take it on board.”

Maguire was rumoured to have put his name forward, despite still being contracted to the Broncos, but NSWRL officials confirmed there had been no contact from the man who led the Blues to a come-from-behind series triumph two years ago.

The Origin series will feature a game in New Zealand for the first time in 2027.

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