Why a former garbo who has never coached first grade will lead NSW’s Origin defence in 2027

Matt King was enjoying a few beers at a backyard barbecue in Sydney in the new year when he struck up a conversation with Stuart Diver, the sole survivor of the Thredbo landslide.

Eighteen people including Diver’s first wife, Sally, died in the tragedy, while Diver himself was trapped beneath the rubble in sub-zero temperatures for nearly 65 hours.

King was so impressed by Diver’s tale of courage that he invited him to address the NSW players during the first State of Origin camp this year.

Diver spoke about the importance of “staying present to stay alive”, always being in the moment and never losing belief.

That messaging was not lost on the Blues as they staged a miraculous come-from-behind series victory on Queensland soil.

Those themes have also been a constant in King’s rugby league journey, which will now see him take over as NSW Origin coach from good friend Laurie Daley.

King, a former NSW and Kangaroos winger, has been Daley’s senior assistant coach in the last two Origin campaigns, but has not yet coached at first-grade level.

So what do we know about the 45-year-old entrusted with delivering a third series win in the past four years against Queensland in 2027?

And what makes officials, players and friends so certain a man with no head-coaching experience and a lack of public profile will survive the pressure-cooker environment that is Origin football?

King was one of seven children who grew up in Casino, in the state’s far north. He was the youngest of six boys, with his parents, Don and Narelle, refusing to stop until they conceived a girl, Maria.

Matt spent a lot of time at the Hotel Cecil, where his father worked and where he developed a curiosity about people and their backstories.

Two of his older brothers, Chris and Andrew, played first grade – Chris with the Eels, Andrew with several clubs including the now-defunct Northern Eagles – while Matt was an unapologetic Eels fan, mainly because of his love for Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny.

King spent time in the lower grades with North Sydney and Cronulla after arriving in Sydney but struggled to make his way into first grade. He took a job as a garbage collector with North Sydney Council for six months, then packed up his car and went travelling.

He had plans to go around the country but got as far as Melbourne, where he re-discovered his love for league watching the Storm and signed a contract after striking up a conversation with good friend and former teammate Matt Orford.

A powerful winger and centre known for his giant hair, which his mother always hated, King won the 2007 grand final with the Storm, played nine Origin games for the Blues, and represented Australia.

For five years at the Storm, his roommate for away trips was Billy Slater – the Storm and Queensland legend now his opposite number as Maroons coach.

King spent four seasons in the Super League with Warrington, where he showed some rare public emotion when giving the local fans the one-fingered salute after a loss, before returning to the NRL for two seasons with Souths.

He was hugely popular at Redfern and started a regular segment called ‘Kingy in the Kombi’, where he would just discuss life and league in his old-school VW van.

King returned for a one-off cameo at the Auckland Nines in 2015, and scored the winning try in extra time against Cronulla.

That jersey ended up hanging in his garage alongside his Storm premiership jersey, his first Australian jersey, and his maiden Blues’ jersey. For the record, the NSW jersey was donated to Casino Junior Rugby League and hangs on a wall in a frame at the local RSL club.

The Storm jersey was donated to Marist Brothers in Lismore, where he won premierships as a teenager, while he handed his Australian jersey to Michael Woods, his coach at Marist Brothers and “the first one who told me I would one day play for Australia”.

King will never forget game three in 2005, when he played alongside Andrew Johns and scored a hat-trick of tries. His success at Origin level as a player and later as an assistant coach was impossible to ignore when it came to assessing Daley’s replacement.

So was his bond with the players. If you hang around after full-time on Friday night when the Roosters play the Bulldogs, you might spot King making a point of embracing the Dogs’ Blues representatives Stephen Crichton and Matt Burton. He will do the same the following week with Penrith’s NSW contingent.

If you have taken a peek at the coach’s box during any Origin game, King has been the one keeping his cool. He is a lateral thinker, an excellent communicator, and calm under pressure.

He told this masthead during an interview in 2012 Daley deserved to be NSW coach the following year. “You need to squeeze every last bit of motivation out of Origin players, and coaches are getting very good at that,” he said.

Expect King to squeeze every last bit of motivation out of next year’s group – and stay present to stay alive, always remain in the moment, and never to lose belief.

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