Maroons star Xavier Coates will miss this year’s State of Origin decider, with Billy Slater opening up in the “emotional” season the young flyer has endured.
The 23-year-old limped off the field in Melbourne’s win over the Raiders on Saturday with a hamstring injury, before the club confirmed a two-month stint on the sidelines.
Coates will now be unavailable for Queensland’s game three showdown with NSW and won’t return until just before the NRL finals with the Storm.
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Speaking on Nine’s The Billy Slater Podcast, the coach addressed the ramifications facing his side in the decider, and sympathised with a “visually dejected” Coates after his injury.
“In terms of changes, there’s gonna be at least one forced change there, but the guys have got to play another round of football this weekend,” Slater said.
“You could see that he was visually dejected walking down the tunnel. I was sitting at home watching it and feeling for him, because I know how hard he’s worked.
“He’s had an incredible pre-season and worked so hard throughout the season. I was actually at a training session throughout the pre-season where he actually did his hamstring … he was very emotional when he did it.
“He’s worked so hard and he’s such a great person and he’s gonna miss a fair chunk of the season now and obviously he’s going to miss the decider.
“I’m looking forward to watching the round of football and then sitting down with Darren Lockyer and Gene Miles on Sunday night and building Queensland’s best team.”
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Coates was a standout for the Maroons in the series opener against the Blues and would have been a likely selection for the upcoming clash at Suncorp Stadium.
The attention will now turn to Broncos superstar Selwyn Cobbo, who was overlooked for game two due to nagging injuries, but returned to club football in round 17.
After suffering a horror loss at the MCG last week, Slater is hopeful his side can move on swiftly and rectify the ill-discipline that saw them down 34-0 at the half-time break.
“I wish I had selective memory loss, but unfortunately it’s stuck firmly in the memory … it was a disappointing night for all us Queenslanders,” he said.
“We were beaten by a better side. NSW were a shade off being perfect, we had 30 per cent of the ball and they had 70 and that’s something that we really need to look at.
“We were 6-0 down on the penalty count and that’s just not acceptable.
“It’s hard to get over that first half, but if you’re looking for a positive, the second half the guys rallied and hung in there and never gave up.”