DANE ELDRIDGE: Maroons coach Billy Slater has proven Origin record but coaching NRL team a different challenge

They say you should never work with children or animals and that’s why coaching footballers is not for the faint hearted.

And considering he’s had plenty of experience with both running a horse stable and working at Channel Nine, it’s no shock Billy Slater has excelled as Queensland Origin coach.

But just because he’s taken to the interstate job like a duck to water, would he prosper at NRL level like everyone predicts?

State of Origin has become a virtual showroom floor for Slater where he annually teases clubland suitors with his wares.

But while he’s a bloody tempting proposition with his erudite composure, neatly fitted moleskins and Wall Street blow-wave, his virtues as an NRL coach should be a case of caveat emptor.

Because if there’s one thing that can erode a tidy win-loss record and a sublime hairline, it’s 27 rounds a year exposed to grind and the Sydney media.

The prevailing narrative is that Slater could walk in to an NRL head coaching role tomorrow if he wanted to, and rightly so.

Origin coaching is a short-term game where Hindu astrology and fun is king, whereas week-to-week coaching is about something entirely different, ie actual coaching.

In four series as Maroons boss, he’s repeatedly showcased the tools that could see him easily emulate modern-day greats such as Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy and Kieran Foran.

But not everyone can be an overnight sensation like the Manly whiz and earn his own KFC inside barely two months.

However, this is not a slight on Slater himself.

Yes, he’s pulled some selection puzzlers over the years, leaving out Reece Walsh in game one and sticking solid with out-of-form favourites such as Rueben Cotter, Kurt Capewell and Trent Loriero while harbouring four years of pathological aversion to David Fifita.

Furthermore, he hasn’t been perfect in the face of Origin’s nuclear posturing either, with his spooked reaction to Michael Maguire’s “glass houses” barb in 2024 and crude citing of Paul Green’s death in reply to Aaron Woods “grub” insult being less statesman-esque than Ricky Stuart-esque.

But what cannot be denied is his persistent ability to produce well-drilled Queensland sides with his astute man management and weaponised bush poetry.

With three series wins in his first four attempts, the bloke knows how to get a tune out of his squad — and that’s a fact.

But comparing Origin to weekly NRL footy should be approached with caution, because if history is any indication, quality State coaching does not necessarily equal quality in the NRL, nor vice versa.

In fact, assuming a coach can handle 27 rounds of NRL based on three games a year is like hiring a guy to be your chief financial officer because he did his Nan’s tax return.

This is even more pronounced when coaching a self-driving side like Queensland.

In the fair dinkum department, the Maroons job provides no parallels to the NRL’s weekly circus because the job is a piece of cake.

Not only does it oversee a team of superstars that coach themselves in jerseys that provide unquenchable motivation, playing against NSW means often there isn’t an opposition either.

Mal Meninga was a modest NRL coach at best but is celebrated as one of Origin’s greatest mentors, and fair enough too because his win-loss record of 22-11 remains unmatched in the arena.

But this should be asterisked because the Queensland team he “coached” was so self- sufficient that his role was virtually reduced to laying out a few witches hats and getting out of the way of Cameron Smith.

Brad Fittler was somewhat similar, a coach whose crazy new-age methods were effective early in his Origin career despite having his light dulled at NRL level by the ravages of weekly coaching.

Don’t forget Craig Bellamy’s unsinkable Storm blueprint being savagely metabolised by the Queensland Spirit, or the reverse case of Paul Vautin, the man who pulled off Origin’s greatest heist but wouldn’t be seen dead in the NRL.

Yes, Origin coaching is a short-term game where Hindu astrology and fun is king, whereas week-to-week coaching is about something entirely different, ie actual coaching.

Of course, Slater has continually denied any interest in entering the world of first grade, but truth is malleable in rugby league and his resolve is yet to be tested by an approach from Melbourne, a circumstance that will be inevitable whenever Bellamy pulls the pin.

But being the next Bellamy seems insane when one could take the easy road and be the next Vautin.

Slater’s ability to motivate the Maroons is without question, but three games a year in rugby league’s biggest arena is different to getting the boys amped up for round 12 at Campbelltown, especially without superstars or bonding sessions.