When Billy Slater named an outside back on his bench and Michael Maguire opted against the strategy, it always seemed like one of the two was going to wake up on Thursday morning looking like a genius.
So, while Maguire was forced to defend his decision not to include backline cover, Slater only had to look at the stats sheet to see just how much of a masterstroke his selection had been.
Two linebreak assists. Just as many offloads. One linebreak. Nine tackle busts and 138 metres.
This was a matter of the numbers actually speaking to just how dominant a player had been and in the case of Selwyn Cobbo, his inclusion on the bench was an inspired choice.
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Although not everyone was convinced it was the right call, questioning how Cobbo would make an impact if there wasn’t an injury or disruption to Queensland’s backline.
In the end, even if Slater told reporters that he had a plan for that exact scenario, he didn’t have to show his hand. Another advantage Queensland.
“Everyone wanted to bag Billy about having a back on the bench and look how that turned out,” Maroons debutant J’maine Hopgood told foxsports.com.au.
“We had a lot of critics [ask] why Selwyn was on the bench,” added Murray Taulagi.
Slater had his reasons, explaining that Queensland had lost four outside backs in its last six State of Origin games. So why not be prepared?
Especially when Cobbo, standing at 190 centimetres and 99 kilograms, is enough of a physical presence to be a game-breaking option in the middle even if there wasn’t an injury.
Cobbo was swatting away defenders as he made an immediate impact when brought on to replace Walsh, exposing NSW’s vulnerable left edge defence without Joseph Suaalii.
“That’s what we’ve been calling him — the super sub,” Lindsay Collins told foxsports.com.au.
“Everyone doubted him and it paid off. Selwyn is a big body and he moves fast as well so it makes things very difficult.”
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“We obviously faced a bit of adversity early there losing Walshy but when you have a master coach like Billy and he picks Cobbo on the bench, it works perfectly,” added Valentine Holmes.
Those two words — master coach, or a similar variation, came up a lot in the Queensland sheds on Wednesday night.
Taulagi described Slater as a “mastermind”.
“We were really lucky we had Cobbo on the bench because we might have had one of our [players from the] pack defending there at centre,” the Maroons centre said.
Xavier Coates, meanwhile, said “you don’t go against Bill with his decisions”.
“He was a very smart footballer when he was playing and he’s a very smart coach now as well so he had a plan in place,” the Queensland flyer added.
Slater already established his status in the rugby league pantheon with his accomplished career as a player and now the legendary fullback is on the verge of making history as a coach, just one win away from becoming the fourth to win three series in a row.
“I think it’s just him, as a person, as a coach,” Holmes said, when asked what it is about Slater that gives Queensland’s players confidence in him, no matter what team he names.
“He’s just someone you don’t want to let down and play your best for. We all know what he did as a player and as a coach as well he’s someone you want to play your backside off for and all the boys did that tonight.
“And he’s like one of the boys too. He’s very approachable. He’s not one of the coaches that is hard to talk to.”
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In fact, Coates said Slater is regularly coming to him with tips to help him become an even better player.
“That’s what I love as a footballer,” Coates said.
“I love trying to get better and he’s always coming with new clips to help you do that.
“It’s unreal. You’ve seen what he did on the field and he brings a lot of smarts to his coaching role now. You think you’re doing something well but he’s got a couple more clips to show you on how to do things better.”
It is going to be tricky to find a whole lot that Queensland did wrong in Wednesday night’s game, although two of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s teammates both pointed out the Maroons speedster may have left a try out on the field.
“He could’ve got four if he took Tedesco on,” Holmes laughed.
“I just love seeing him in open space because usually we’re just running down to the posts to celebrate with him when he’s away.”
Tabuai-Fidow trained most of the week in the centres but also spent a “little bit” of time at fullback, just in case anything happened to Walsh.
Just another example of Slater the mastermind, always one step ahead.
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“Hammer has got speed to burn… you just sort of expect the unexpected with him,” Taulagi said.
“He’s got that X-factor and you’ve just sort of got to follow him. You never know what will happen around him and obviously tonight he had three tries, could have had four, but I love playing outside of him.
“He’s a freak of nature and I’m glad he’s a Queenslander.”
While Tabuai-Fidow’s hat-trick will make all the headlines, his biggest play came in defence as the fill-in fullback denied Spencer Leniu a try on the stroke of halftime.
“That was a big play,” Taulagi said.
“If they score that, you never know. Momentum could change and they might have been leading at halftime there.”
Instead, Queensland maintained its 20-6 halftime lead and NSW never really got close from that point.