It's official: coaching grandmaster Wayne Bennett will return as Queensland's State of Origin saviour after being appointed as Kevin Walters' replacement for the 2020 series.
The legendary Bennett has coached Queensland to five Origin victories across seven series, and last led the Maroons in 2003.
Walters vacated the Origin post after accepting the Brisbane Broncos job this week.
"I love coaching Queensland and I'm extremely humbled to be invited to coach this team again, particularly in light of the challenging circumstances with Kevin moving on to coach the Broncos," Bennett said.
"I'm very proud and pleased that I'm still able to do it. State of Origin means so much to the people of Queensland.
"It's been a difficult year for many people and I just want to give something back if I can."
Queensland are considered longshots in this year's series after NSW won the previous two campaigns.
But Bennett's return will raise hopes of a stirring revival, starting with the series opener at Adelaide Oval on November 4.
"Our people involved in the process to appoint the new coach all viewed Wayne as the right person when we took into consideration the unique circumstances we are now faced with," QRL managing director Robert Moore said.
"There's no doubt next month's series will present a range of new challenges due to the scheduling change and biosecurity protocols.
"Wayne has the necessary experience and he knows what it takes to win big games at representative level, for both state and country."
Before Bennett's appointment was made official, NSW coach Brad Fittler was asked by Wide World of Sports Radio whether the 70-year-old's unrivalled status in the game made him nervous.
"Well I'm nervous about when we do our press conferences and when we do the face-to-face photo that I've done with Kevvie a few times, I think that's going to be a little bit odd," Fittler said.
"But apart from that, no, not really.
"I think the players that we have at the moment, the camaraderie that we have and the feeling we have in amongst NSW and the reasons why we play are going to be strong enough."
Earlier this week, the QRL paid tribute to Walters while parting ways.
"It gives us an enormous amount of satisfaction to see one of the state's favourite footballing sons fulfil a career goal following his work with our pathway competitions and Queensland representative programs," Moore said.
"As a former premiership-winning player and assistant coach with the Broncos, Kevin is a great fit for the club.
"We've always said we'd never stand in his way if a coaching opportunity he coveted came up in the NRL.
"We also know how passionate he is about the Maroons, and it hasn't been an easy step for him to let go of his Origin role with such a big series coming up.
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