Billy Slater and Daly Cherry-Evans are on the cusp of joining Queensland’s great State of Origin coach and captain partnerships.
Only Arthur Beetson and Wally Lewis and the duo of Mal Meninga and Darren Lockyer have combined as coach and captain for three series wins in a row for the Maroons.
Slater and 35-year-old skipper Cherry-Evans have combined for two series wins and can make it three with victory at the MCG on Wednesday night or Suncorp Stadium in game three.
Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher said Slater and Cherry-Evans would deserve to be mentioned alongside the Beetson-Lewis and Meninga-Lockyer combinations if they achieve the feat.
“All day, every day,” Hatcher told AAP.
“I liken their coach and captain partnership to that of a chairman and CEO.
“If those two don’t work well together then it is hard for the team to work together.
"The really great leaders are the ones that create opportunity when it doesn’t look like it is there and then lead by example.
"That is what Billy and Daly both do. Billy is obviously the planner, leader and manager of it all and Daly as the captain he enacts it and carries out the wishes of the coach on the field.
“They are also both great communicators."
Beetson and his trusted skipper Lewis featured in three consecutive wins from 1982-1984 after also winning the one-off Origin clash in 1981. The Beetson/Lewis combination prevailed in 1989.
Lockyer was the winning captain in 2006 and 2007 under coach Mal Meninga's stewardship and then won the treble in 2009-2011 under Meninga after missing the 2008 series with injury.
Hatcher said Cherry-Evans had improved as a player under Slater’s tutelage despite being in his mid-30s.
The combination has been a success on and off the field.
“If you go through Billy’s three years you see the stability of the Maroons," Hatcher said.
"Billy has blooded different players but he set his criteria and made it clear if the players meet it they will get picked.
“Daly has been a constant through it all and gets better with each year.”
But it is the connection the Maroons have with the people of Queensland and the sense the players have of playing for something greater than themselves that stands out to Hatcher.
”The fact is we have now been through several generations of young people (since 1980)and they all step up with the same passion and commitment that we have had forever," he said.
"Billy talks a lot about the connection between the team and the five and a half million people in Queensland as a symbiotic relationship that works both ways."
