This is Laurie Daley’s Tony Popovic moment. It’s likely one of his last as a coach

This is Laurie Daley’s Tony Popovic moment. The crossroad between masterstroke and misstep.

Daley approaches the juncture at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday night, a happy hunting ground for his team, armed with a 1-0 series advantage. A raft of selection gambles will determine whether his second stint as NSW coach is more successful than the first.

The mail is, regardless of the result of this match or the series, that this will be Daley’s last year in charge. It is a chance to go out on his own terms and improve a record that stands at one series win from six.

During his first stint with the clipboard, Daley went up against perhaps the best Maroons teams assembled. Would those results have been different if the coaches had swapped sides? If Mal Meninga coached the Blues, and Daley the Maroons?

Probably not. Queensland had the better team, and the better team won.

The same can’t be said as definitively this time. There is no discernible difference in the talent on either side of the Tweed. It will come down to which players are picked and how they perform. And the buck, ultimately, will stop with the coach.

Just ask Socceroos mentor Popovic. Daley’s decision to drop the NRL’s form back-rower, Haumole Olakau’atu, to back Mitchell Moses’ gammy hammys when Ethan Strange was one of his best players in Origin I, and then hand a debut to enigmatic Rooster Mark Nawaqanitawase, is akin to Popovic overlooking captain Mathew Ryan for unheralded goalkeeper Patrick Beach, benching vice-captain Jackson Irvine and backing Connor Metcalfe despite his lack of minutes at club level.

If the Socceroos had lost 0-2 instead of winning 2-0, you can only imagine the outcry about the coach. It would have been much the same for Daley if James Tedesco – a controversial selection ahead of Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards in game I – had lost control of the ball instead of planting it down for the match-winner in Sydney. Thin is the line between genius and madness.

All this is transpiring while Ivan Cleary waits in the wings. The four-time premiership-winning mentor is poised to finish as head coach of the Panthers at the end of 2027. Cleary has expressed an interest in becoming involved at representative level and should walk into any job of his choosing.

When Brad Fittler was facing the prospect of a series whitewash in the final interstate game of 2023, he turned to Cleary on game night. The Blues won. Hand Cleary the reins of the Blues and, with son Nathan, “The Premier State” has at its disposal the best player and coach in the business.

“I think he’s got the foundations there to coach at any level, really,” Nathan Cleary said of the prospect of the old man one day taking the Blues job.

“As much as he wants to probably get away from the day-to-day grind of it, I don’t think he wants to completely cut ties with rugby league. And he still has so much to offer. So I’m not sure where he’ll land yet or what’s even on the table for him. But that will become more apparent in future years.”

If, as expected, Daley steps down after this series, the NSWRL shouldn’t wait until 2028 to appoint Cleary. If the latter reckons he can juggle club and state, he should be appointed straight away.

As it stands, club coaches, for fear of being conflicted, aren’t allowed to also coach the Blues, Maroons or Kangaroos. Which means the most prestigious jobs in rugby league are often filled by the 18th, 19th or 20th most credentialled candidate. The sooner the Blues can nab Cleary, the better their chances of success.

As a player and a coach, Daley has given his all for the Blues. He has a radio gig he enjoys, a family he adores and is looking as fit as he did during his playing days after making his health a priority. You get the impression that the stress of coaching the team, and the outside noise that comes with it, is not something he needs any more.

All “Loz” needs is for his team to put together 80 minutes of football. It won’t silence all his critics, or leave him with an interstate record anywhere near the black. But it will be proof that nice guys don’t always finish last.