It was a bitter disappointment for Matt King when he walked away empty-handed from his 2024 bid for the New South Wales Blues State of Origin head coaching job. But that heartbreak has turned into a long-awaited breakthrough, after rugby league officials pulled back the curtain on a top-secret succession plan that had earmarked King as Laurie Daley’s successor from the very start.
The pre-existing blueprint explains how the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) was able to formally name King as Daley’s replacement just 24 hours after the incumbent confirmed he would step down from the role. King has signed a two-year contract with a third-year extension option, ending all speculation that Penrith Panthers mentor Ivan Cleary would take over the top job in 2028. Next year’s State of Origin series will also pit two former Melbourne Storm teammates against one another as rivals: King is set to go head-to-head with Billy Slater, who is widely expected to remain head coach of the Queensland Maroons.
NSWRL chief executive David Trodden laid out the details of the long-term plan during King’s official unveiling to the press on Tuesday morning. “We’ve had this succession plan in place since 2024. We’ve spent every step of that period watching Matt develop and grow as a coach,” Trodden explained. “I share a very close, honest and open relationship with Loz [Daley], so when he decided not to continue, it didn’t come as a major surprise to me. We have had planning in place all along. The plan was always that Matt would take this role because he is the very best person for it – the only thing we needed to do was make small adjustments to our timeline.”
Trodden added that the NSWRL board and its appointment subcommittee reviewed the original 2024 plan and confirmed that sticking to the prearranged strategy remained the right course of action. “Once we signed off, it was just a matter of executing the plan and moving forward. It’s actually a very comfortable feeling being in full control of a process like this. This didn’t happen by accident – it happened because it was carefully planned out,” he said.
For King, the disappointment of 2024 was raw at the time, but he now says the rejection was the best possible outcome for his career. “Total honesty, that decision stung me,” he admitted of his unsuccessful 2024 interview. “I was really desperate for the job then, but you know that old saying – things happen for a reason. I understand the board made the right decision back then, even though I was disappointed. Getting the chance to work alongside Loz for the last couple of years has only helped me develop and grow as a coach. Troddo [David Trodden] is telling the absolute truth when he says they always saw me as the eventual successor.”
King added that Daley retained the option to extend his tenure if the Blues had found success in his final two years in charge. “Troddo is a man of his word, and he kept the promise he made to me a couple of years ago, and I’m really appreciative of that,” he said.
The NSWRL did not interview any other candidates for the head coaching role, a clear sign of the deep organizational trust in King, a former Blues representative who played nine games for his state and won the inaugural Brad Fittler Medal as NSW’s best player in 2005. King has put in a decade of apprenticeship work to prepare for his first senior head coaching role, including 10 years as an assistant coach at the Sydney Roosters, three seasons as a Blues assistant coach, and a stint with the Lebanon national team at the Rugby League World Cup.
In his first message to players eligible to represent NSW, King said he will be tracking candidates across all clubs, and laid out the core traits he wants to see from his squad: players who are tough, play with clear strategic focus, and are prepared to step up in high-stakes moments.
The rookie head coach will not have an easy road ahead, after watching Daley cope with intense public and media pressure over the past two years in charge. But King says he is ready to embrace the weight of expectations. “I am so aware of what’s coming my way, and I’m choosing to sign up for it,” King said, speaking at the press conference alongside his wife and children. He joked that his palms were just as sweaty walking into the announcement as they were when he asked his partner to marry him.
King praised how Daley handled pressure during his tenure, noting that the outgoing coach never pushed stress onto his staff or playing group, absorbing all the pressure himself. “I really admired that, and I realize that absorbing pressure is a massive part of my job,” he said. “It’s a funny thing about pressure. I’ve got the weirdest love-hate relationship with it. We all face pressure at different points in our lives, and every time I’ve gotten through those moments, they’ve turned into some of the greatest moments of my life.”
King will wrap up his current duties as assistant coach with the Roosters by the end of the NRL season, and will officially begin his tenure as Blues head coach on November 1. He thanked a group of senior NRL coaches who unofficially served as his advisory board throughout his journey: Melbourne Storm head coach Craig Bellamy, Cronulla Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon, Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire, and Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson – none of whom knew King had given them that unofficial title, but all of whom taught him the core qualities successful players and coaches need. Frank Ponissi will remain on the Blues staff as team performance manager through 2027 to support King, though King will need to hire a new assistant coach to replace him, working alongside existing assistants Boyd Cordner and Brett White.