Green firms for Maroons gig as QRL decision looms
https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/02/03/...ecision-looms/

Paul Green is firming to take charge of Queensland's 2021 State of Origin campaign ahead of champion former fullback Billy Slater.

Green has been the front-runner to take over for this year's series since Wayne Bennett confirmed he would not return to the post, though a push for Slater's ascent to the Maroons job gathered momentum in recent weeks.

Last Friday's QRL annual general meeting saw the credentials of Green and Slater debated at length without a definitive decision being reached.

Talks are understood to have continued this week between the QRL and Green's management.

The QRL has not commented on the vacant coaching post, but it's believed Green's appointment on a one-year deal will be confirmed within the next week.

It is unclear at this stage whether QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher's original plan for Green to act as head coach in 2021, with Slater learning the ropes as an assistant before taking over, could still come to fruition.

The Maroons job would be Green's first since he was moved on by the Cowboys last year.

Given he looms as an obvious candidate with NRL premiership credentials for the next club coaching role that opens up, the QRL remain keen on implementing a longer-term option for 2022.

Concern around Green being offered a return to the NRL coaching ranks before the mid-season Origin series were eased by the 48-year-old when raised during the interview process.

Green is understood to have committed to Queensland's cause, pointing to the five NRL coach sackings last year in the expectation little upheaval will be seen in the first half of 2021.

The 2015 premiership-winning coach remains determined to return as an NRL coach, providing the genesis for a Maroons succession plan around Slater and potentially other former champion players.

The former fullback was privately endorsed by heavyweight coaching figures across the game including Bennett and Mal Meninga, as well as Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy.

Slater is still viewed as an Origin coach of the future, with any potential involvement in the 2021 series viewed as a crash-course in coaching given he has no formal experience.