Following Ben Hunt’s “angry dad” comments referencing Billy Slater, Queensland assistant coach Josh Hannay has also given some insight into the “brutal” Maroons video session at the start of camp.
It’s been no secret that Slater and the rest of the Maroons coaching staff weren’t in a bright mood when the Game III squad entered camp on Monday, with one of the first ports of call to review the tape of the embarrassing Game II loss.
Hunt said Slater was “a bit disappointed” and was like an “angry dad” when re-watching the performance with the Maroons staff and players.
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Hannay was asked about the video review at the start of camp and admitted it wasn’t a pretty watch.
“The first thing we had to do coming in to camp was address what happened in Game II,” Hannay told SENQ.
“There is no way to sugar coat it, there was no way to put on a smiling face when we had to sit through that again and go through the many areas that we got wrong.
“That first day (back in camp) was brutal but it needed to be but we put that in the rear view mirror and move forward.”
The Maroons weren’t able to stop a Blues onslaught in the first half, with a lack of quality possession a massive reason why.
“In the initial five to ten minutes, we were there and created a couple of opportunities but once the floodgates opened, we were never able to arrest that momentum,” Hannay said.
“Some of it was self inflicted because of poor discipline and other parts to it were some contentious calls I guess you could say.
“We were on the back foot that entire first half … You sometimes have those games where you can fight your way back into it but for whatever reason, we were never able to get back into the swing of things.
“There wasn’t a whole lot (the coaching staff) could say or do. We felt quite helpless.
“It was a vicious cycle, it was hard to watch.”
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The Maroons have entered a decider with their back against the walls before and come out on top in Game III,
The most recent example was only two years ago, when the Maroons won a decider at Suncorp three weeks after they were thrashed by the Blues in Perth.
“They’ll come in confident the Blues and understandably so,” Hannay said.
“I think one thing that we can lean on as a group is that in the 2022 series we got belted by the Blues in Perth in Game II.
“We came back to Suncorp in Game III and were without Cam Munster (injury) and Murray Taulagi.
“We went into that game as pronounced underdogs but we were able to turn things around between Game II and III … We were able to put in a typical Queensland performance in that third game.”
Earlier this week, the Eels announced that Jason Ryles would be their new head coach from 2025.
Ryles and Hannay were the two in the running for the plum gig.
While early reports suggested Hannay would win the job, Ryles got the nod.
Hannay, who is an assistant at the Sharks under Craig Fitzgibbon, was gracious in defeat.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit disappointed,” Hannay said.
“I’m lucky because I’m not desperate for another job. I’ve already got two wonderful jobs with Queensland and Cronulla.
“There’ll be another opportunity and the (Eels) process was a good one. I know that there was nothing in it between myself and Rylesy in the end.
“He deserves his crack, he’s done a wonderful apprenticeship, he’s ready and I know he’ll do a great job and I’ll just bide my time and wait for the next one.”