State of Origin: Queensland coach Billy Slater welcomes pressure cooker of must-win game

Queensland may look to have their backs against the wall on the eve of State of Origin game two in Perth — but Maroons coach Billy Slater is looking only at the opportunities presenting themselves.

New South Wales have the upper hand in the best-of-three series ahead of Wednesday night’s Optus Stadium blockbuster between the two great rivals, but Slater said his side were ready to right the wrongs of game one.

The ex-Melbourne Storm great said the pressure was palpable — but was quick to point out it was a good thing.

“What is pressure like? To me, the opposite of pressure is comfort, so you’re either comfortable or you’re in a pressure situation, and I think you earn that opportunity,” he said.

“Whether it’s a player or a coach to be in this environment, you’ve earned that pressure and because it means so much to the people of our states, it means so much to the people involved in the game, of course there’s pressure.

“The day there’s no pressure, I’ll be worried.”

Queensland are yet to taste victory in WA, having fallen in the previous two Perth Origin clashes in 2019 and 2022 by scores of 38-6 and 44-12.

And since taking over as Maroons coach in 2022, this is the first time Slater’s team have faced a 1-0 deficit in Origin.

“What a great opportunity, right? We haven’t won over here. We’ve had a couple of poor performances the last time Queensland have played here, and we haven’t won a series on the road since being 1-0 down,” Slater said.

“That’s a great opportunity for this group, and it’s also an outcome, it’s a big picture focus. We’re really focused on the little things — we didn’t quite get the little things right in game one.”

Given Laurie Daly’s side’s dominant 18-6 win at Suncorp Stadium, you could forgive the Blues for cutting relaxed figures on Tuesday, but NSW skipper Isaah Yeo warned his side against complacency.

“Being captain, it’s all about your preparation and getting that right, so I wouldn’t be doing the right job if I was too busy worrying about that (complacency),” he said.

“The preparation obviously had its challenges at the start of the week, but it was probably similar for us in game one.”

Wests Tigers five-eighth Jarome Luai is back in the no.6 jersey for NSW in the absence of Mitch Moses, bolstering an already star-studded backs group.

He will be reunited with his former Penrith Panthers partner in the halves Nathan Cleary, who said he was looking forward to playing alongside his ex-teammate.

“It’s sinking in again I get to play alongside him. We’ve played in big games together in the past,” he said.

“Him going him to another club and then versing him just the other week, was a weird experience to be honest.

“He brings that energy that everyone sees, he’s definitely not afraid of the moment or big games.”