Billy Slater was captured on film sharing an emotional hug with his wife, Nicole, following a pivotal State of Origin victory. This win likely secured his position as Queensland’s coach and helped dispel the controversy surrounding the game’s lead-up.

On Slater’s tumultuous 42nd birthday, his team achieved a 26-24 victory on Wednesday night, just hours after he publicly apologized for remarks he made concerning the tragic passing of football icon Paul Green.

The 42-year-old has faced intense criticism over the past three weeks, with Wednesday night’s game serving as a critical test of his controversial decision to remove captain Daly Cherry-Evans from the team.

Questions have also circled around Queensland’s performances and Slater’s own future, with no Maroons coach having ever kept the job after two straight series losses – which is what the team would have suffered had they fallen to the Blues in Perth.

But all of Slater’s cares seemed to fade away when he hugged and kissed Nicole as his team celebrated one of the most nail-biting wins in recent Origin memory. 

The criticism of Slater was also enough to spur on the Maroons, with skipper Cameron Munster revealing how players wanted to stand up and play for the former Queensland fullback.

‘When you have someone jabbing at him like that, it really hurts. It hurts me personally,’ Munster said.

‘And when someone’s having a jab at someone in your own backyard, you stand up on your back and want to get up and fight.

‘We needed to do that tonight. We were backs against the wall, no-one gave us a chance.

‘I love him, and I just want to do the best thing for Queensland, and the best thing for him, because he’s not doing this for him, he’s doing it for Queensland.’

Munster himself was brilliant in the Maroons’ win, scoring a try and named man of the match after starring in Queensland’s 26-6 first-half.

But the new Queensland captain is well aware the Maroons must be much better in Sydney, after letting NSW back into the game after the break and ending with four tries to their five.

Regardless, Munster said the criticism of Slater for the Maroons’ 18-6 series-opening loss at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane last month was unwarranted.

‘He’s our coach, and he’s done everything he can to tick the boxes for us, and we didn’t perform for him in game one,’ Munster said.

‘He got a lot of slack for it, and a lot of stuff in the media, and he didn’t deserve it.

‘He’s given us a great game plan, and we didn’t execute in game one, and we did it tonight in the first half.

‘I played with Bill, he’s a champion player and champion coach, and I’ve had a great relationship with him, and still do.’

Munster also revealed the Maroons had invoked the spirit of 1995 in the lead-up to the game, with the 30-year anniversary of Paul Vautin’s unlikely 3-0 series win during the Super League war.

The Queensland No.6 referenced the 1995 series on field after the game, before again raising it in the press conference.

‘We keep talking about it,’ Munster said.

‘They won by two points in a couple of those games in the series, and we won by two tonight. It was that ’95 mentality in defence.

‘We’ve just got to keep working hard for each other. It’s going to be a harder task going to Sydney, and we’ve got to be ready for it.

‘We can’t afford to be ambushed.’