Laurie Daley, genuine good guy of the game that he is, acknowledged the elephant in a room replete with blue seats, blue carpet, blue everything, almost immediately on Monday.

State of Origin is all encompassing, and his return as Blues coach will polarise the premier state to say the least.

“In any job or any position, there’s always going to be criticism. You’re going to get 50 per cent of people hating you or 50 per cent of people liking you, you can’t change that,” Daley told a room of reporters. “But all you can do is do your best.”

The 40 per cent win rate from five series, for one iconic shield success in 2014 amid four Queensland triumphs, is the gripe of Daley’s detractors.

A two-year deal, with great mate Craig Bellamy riding shotgun as advisor and selector, is his chance to prove them wrong. And Monday’s announcement was our chance to put the first, and curliest questions on the table.

Aside from an annual Indigenous All Stars coaching gig he relinquished two years ago, Daley’s last outing as a competitive coach came in July 2017. By Origin I next May, it amounts to almost eight years out of regular top-flight rugby league.

Bids by Manly and Wests Tigers to bring him onto their staff have been vetoed by the NRL because of Daley’s TAB employment.

Since he was last Blues coach, the game has undergone arguably its most dramatic on-field change of the 21st century, with the high-octane, six-again era making for a significantly faster game that is sped up even more at Origin level.

Laurie Daley is back in the Blues hot seat.Credit: Louie Douvis

With Bellamy in his coach’s box, present-day NRL experience........

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