{"id":365079,"date":"2024-02-03T09:32:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T10:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=365079"},"modified":"2024-02-03T22:05:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T22:05:06","slug":"how-smith-could-still-haunt-blues-in-the-background","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=365079","title":{"rendered":"How Smith could still haunt Blues 'in the background'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland Maroons<\/a> coach Billy Slater<\/a> \ufeffbelieves Cameron Smith<\/a> will still play a limited role with the State of Origin side, despite his decision to step down as assistant coach.<\/p>\n

Smith's decision was officially announced on Wednesday, with the 11-time Origin winner deciding to focus more on his junior coaching at Currumbin.<\/p>\n

The departure of the modern day great left many surprised, with his resignation considered a big loss for the Maroons.<\/p>\n

READ MORE\ufeff:<\/strong> The F1 legends who failed to fire with Ferrari<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Socceroos heartbreak as 'poor' finishing kills hopes\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>Head released from squad in Aussie shake-up<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, Slater was able to put a positive spin on his former teammate's decision. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I\ufeff look at it quite different, I'm very grateful for what he's been able to contribute to this team," he told media at a pre-season Maroons camp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"For this group of men to rub shoulders with Cameron Smith through two Origin series', they've learned a whole heap from him.<\/p>\n

"We as coaches have learned a whole heap from him, I see it as a huge benefit and we're really grateful for that."<\/p>\n

Having won eight Origins and two grand finals with the Melbourne Storm together, Slater predicts there'll still be an unofficial role for Smith to play as the Maroons attempt to win three series in a row.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Pretty sure he's still my mate, pretty sure I've still got his phone number, pretty sure he'll still pick up his phone," he said.<\/p>\n

"He'll still be there in the background somewhere."<\/p>\n

\"Slater<\/p>\n

Slater selected 34 players for his pre-season camp with \ufeffBroncos playmaker Ezra Mam<\/a>, Roosters halfback Sam Walker<\/a>, Titans second-rower Beau Fermor and Cowboys forward Heilum Luki the uncapped players selected.<\/p>\n

Kalyn Ponga and Reece Walsh are also part of the camp with speculation already beginning on how Slater will fit the two fullbacks into his squad.<\/p>\n

The Maroons coach was coy on whether they could be Origin teammates in the future.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"Maybe, maybe, everything's a possibility," he said.<\/p>\n

"They're wonderful players \ufeffand we've got 34 players here that have earned the right to be here. 17 players will get their name read out leading into that first game.<\/p>\n

"Sure there's competition \ufeffbut they're teammates as well and they understand who they're playing for, they understand the selflessness you need to have to be successful in this game and that's why they're in the position they're in."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queensland Maroons coach Billy Slater \ufeffbelieves Cameron Smith will still play a limited role with the State of Origin side, despite his decision to step […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":365084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365079"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=365079"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":365089,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365079\/revisions\/365089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/365084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=365079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=365079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=365079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}