Maroons to stay at Hyatt Coolum

Coach Mal Meninga and captain Darren Lockyer put in the “hard yards” at an earlier State of Origin camp at the Hyatt Regency Coolum.

Brett Wortman

Queensland’s State of Origin team will be based at the Hyatt Regency Coolum before all three games in this year’s series.

For matches one and three in Sydney, the team will assemble at the Hyatt on the Tuesday the week before the game and fly out seven days later.

Before game two at Suncorp Stadium, the team will arrive the Friday before the match – after completing three days of media and sponsorship commitments in Brisbane – and stay until the day before the match.

Queensland Rugby League boss Ross Livermore said the Hyatt Coolum had been chosen as a base after the resort recently upgraded its training facilities.

“We also looked at Crowne Plaza at Pelican Waters,” he said.

“But we didn’t want to have to get on a bus every day and travel to get to training. We stayed there (at the Hyatt) a few years ago and they’ve improved the facilities there, so we can have a fair go.”

The Maroons would host a fan day on the Sunshine Coast during one of the camps, but a date was yet to be announced, Livermore said.

The Queensland team will shoot this year for an unprecedented fifth-straight Origin series win.

This year’s Origin shapes as one of the most interesting in recent memory and all eyes will be on the Sunshine Coast beforehand.

New South Wales will be out to avoid defeat at any cost and no doubt will be heavily backed after finding form in game three of last year’s series.

Question marks also remain over the availability of Queensland captain and five-eighth Darren Lockyer, who is yet to decide if he will make himself available for representative duty.

STATE OF ORIGIN

Dates for this year’s State of Origin series.

Game 1: ANZ Stadium, Sydney, May 26

Game 2: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, June 16

Game 3: ANZ Stadium, Sydney, July 7