'Hidden agendas': Daley blasts critics after stunning series win

Daley later blasted the hidden agendas he felt fuelled much of the criticism of him and his team throughout the past two years.

“I just think it was unnecessary, I think it was hidden agendas,” Daley said. “Sometimes things are planted in the media too, so I’d love to know where that comes from.

“I knew that’s how it all works but when you put a lot into a game and put a lot into trying to be the person you are and people attack you from an angle, you go ‘wow’. That’s my rant, I hope it never happens to you one day.”

Cleary claimed the Wally Lewis Medal after steering the Blues to just their fourth victory in a decider at Suncorp Stadium, scoring two tries to help his side jump out to an 18-0 lead in the first half.

While Queensland came back hard in the second half, NSW overcame the loss of fullback James Tedesco and winger Jack Bostock to head knocks to hold off their rivals and send the fans home disappointed.

The win marked Daley’s second series victory after he guided the Blues to a drought-breaking triumph in 2014, snapping an eight-year reign of Maroons dominance in the process.

The coach, however, has had to wait 12 years to lift the Origin shield for a second time and there has been plenty of speculation about his future in charge of the NSW team moving forward.

Daley is off contract at the end of this year and hinted in a Channel 9 interview that he had already made up his mind about whether to coach on but was not willing to elaborate on the decision.

“That’s for another day,” Daley said on the Channel 9 telecast. “I’ve made up my mind. I know what I’m doing.”

The Blues entered Wednesday's match heavy underdogs, with few outside the squad giving the side a chance of causing an upset. 

Daley, however, always remained confident he could lead the Blues to a series victory. 

When asked if he there were times when he started to doubt his coaching ability, Daley said he had faith in the structure he had put in place to get the job done.

“I’m a leader,” Daley said at the post-game press conference. “There’s a difference between a leader and coaching. You go and ask Billy [Slater], why does he have assistant coaches? Why do you have an assistant defence coach? Why do you have an assistant attack coach?

“What the coach does is drive it. It frustrates me, it frustrates me a lot. The coach sets the tone, the coach talks to his coaches about how they want to implement plans. Some of the stuff that’s been written and said, come on. Hopefully those blokes might have a decent look at themselves.”

The criticism of Daley’s coaching record throughout the past few weeks only served to galvanise the Blues playing group, who repeatedly spoke of their desire to secure a win for their leader.

They delivered in spades on Wednesday night, players across the park standing tall in the big moments.

Liam Martin delivered in his Origin return, rookie Jack Bostock played well beyond his years and Bradman Best continued his undefeated run in the NSW jumper.

Captain Isaah Yeo led from the front and was labelled by Daley one of the best leaders the coach has ever seen.

While slightly uncomfortable with the praise, the Blues skipper was most pleased to deliver a win for his coach.

“I’m just so happy for Loz,” Yeo said. “We as a group didn’t read into anything that was said but there was so much being said about him so we took the onus on us. We were given everything we need, we just had to go and piece together an 80-minute performance and do exactly what he’d been telling us the whole series.

“We saw glimpses in the back end of Game One, we saw glimpses at the start of Game Two, we just hadn’t pieced together 80 minutes. That’s why I’m so happy for not just our group, but just so happy for Loz because everything he instilled in us, all the belief, all the trust he gave us. We managed to do it under the most pressure on the biggest stage up here in Suncorp.”