Maroons assistant Josh Hannay reveals brutal Maroons honesty session ahead of Origin decider

Queensland Maroons assistant coach Josh Hannay has opened up on the intense Game II video session that head coach Billy Slater forced his players to endure in the lead up to the decider.

The Maroons were embarrassed in Game II as NSW opened up an Origin record 34-0 half time lead. Maroons veteran Ben Hunt described the video review as Slater acting like an “angry dad” as he expressed disappointment with his players’ performance.

Hannay said it was a brutal but honest review of Game II and that Queensland will not allow NSW to get the jump on them in the decider.

“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 and there were no smiling faces when we all had to sit through the many areas that we got wrong.

“It was brutal but it needed to be. Once the floodgates opened up, we were never able to arrest the momentum and some of that was due to poor discipline and some contentious calls.

“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.

“We put that in the rear view mirror and just move on.”

Hannay was one of the leading candidates for the vacant Parramatta Eels job but was overlooked for Melbourne Storm assistant Jason Ryles.

The 44-year-old admitted that he was upset he wasn’t appointed as the new Eels coach but his focus returns to his assistant coaching roles with Queensland and the Cronulla Sharks.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit disappointed,” Hannay added.

“As I said to Craig Fitzgibbon back at the Sharks and to Billy here in Queensland, while I’m disappointed, it is minimal because I’m fortunate to be in my positon.

“I’m lucky because I’m not desperate for another job. I’ve already got two great jobs.

“There’ll be another opportunity and the (Eels) process was a good one. I know that there was nothing in it between myself and Jason Ryles.

“He deserves his crack, he’s done a wonderful apprenticeship, he’s ready and I know he’ll do a great job.

“I will just bide my time and just wait for the next opportunity to come along.”

The 2024 Origin decider will be held at Suncorp Stadium on July 17.