‘He will regret it’: Gould joins growing calls for Joey to coach NSW

Phil Gould has given the biggest endorsement yet for Andrew Johns to take over as NSW Blues coach, claiming the Immortal would “regret” not taking on the job.

While he has remained coy on his future since the State of Origin decider, it’s expected that Laurie Daley will step away from the position for 2027.

Daley copped immense scrutiny throughout the series, but led the Blues to a huge upset in game three when they toppled the Maroons at Suncorp Stadium and is now expected to step away from the role after a two-year tenure.

“I think I just wanna let it all settle in and settle down and let the players enjoy what they’ve been able to achieve,” he said on Nine’s Freddy and The Eighth.

“A decision will come in the coming weeks, but I’m certainly happy with the decision I’ve made and what happens next.”

Johns then smirked and said, “I’d like to be playing poker against him” as he sat next to Daley, insinuating he knew what the coach’s plans were. 

The conversation then turned to potential replacements, with Daley backing NSW assistants including Boyd Cordner or Matt King to possibly fill the void.

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The one name that all Blues fans want to see involved, however, is Johns, despite the man himself consistently shutting down calls for him to join the staff or take over the head coaching responsibilities at Origin level.

“I haven’t got the personality to do it and I’ve got no experience,” he said.

Daley claimed that Johns was “underestimating” himself and could “easily” step into the hot-seat, if it was something he wanted to do.

But the loudest call for Johns to become coach came from NSW’s greatest-ever mentor in Gould, who urged the champion halfback to take it on.

“I’ve got no doubt that he could do it,” Gould said on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus on Wednesday morning.

“He probably should do it, because he’s gonna get to some stage in his life where he probably wished he did. He’s gonna get to 60 or 70 years of age and probably regret that he didn’t at least give it one shot. Why not live your life and go and do it? Maybe it’s an itch he has to scratch, so maybe he should do it.

“He’ll get to a point where he can’t do it or he won’t ever get asked to do it and he will regret it. It’s the biggest job, it’s a great job - why not? If he chose to do it, he should do it now and I think everyone would get behind him.

“If he’s thinking about doing it, he should do it and he should do it his way … he’s gotta put his personality into it and give himself to the team.

“He’s at the stage of his life where he can handle it - the football is easy to Andrew, but he’s at the stage of his life where he could handle the rest. It would galvanise the whole Blues movement and now’s a good time for him.”

Matty Johns said he would be open to helping his brother, if needed.

Johns helped during Brad Fittler’s tenure as NSW coach, but has very minimal coaching experience and cited his family life as a reason for avoiding it.