Updated July 07, 2019 14:18:09

Photo: Paul Vautin coached the Maroons to a State of Origin series victory in 1995.

Prominent rugby league personality Paul Vautin says he will consider putting up his hand to coach the Queensland State of Origin team again should Kevin Walters depart the Maroons after this year's series.

Vautin famously coached Queensland to a series whitewash in 1995 and has expressed interest in returning to the role, with Walters considered unlikely to remain as coach should the Maroons lose to New South Wales in Wednesday night's series decider in Sydney.

The Maroons lost last year's series with Walters at the helm, while there is speculation he could quit his post even if they win on Wednesday night, as he has been linked with the Gold Coast Titans for next season.

Vautin, who has never coached an NRL club, said he was confident he could coach the Maroons with success if given the opportunity again.

But he did acknowledge there were several other candidates who would be excellent choices if Walters steps down or was removed.

"I think I could do it, it's a pretty simple job coaching Origin," Vautin told ABC Grandstand.

"You haven't got to come up with 35 different tactics to win the game. You've just got to get them to play for you and play for your state.

"It's a pretty simple game, run hard, tackle hard. Whoever does that best is going to win the game.

"But I think there's other people probably better credentialed at this stage of my life."

Photo: Kevin Walters (left) is facing the prospect of losing back-to-back Origin series. (AAP: Julian Smith)

The 59-year-old Vautin, who has enjoyed a lengthy media career since retiring as a player in 1991, had previously approached the Maroons after Mal Meninga stepped down as coach after the 2015 series.

He spoke to Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher at the time but soon realised his expression of interest had come too late.

"I said 'Mate, I think I can do it again, it's been 20 years'," Vautin said.

"He said "Are you serious?', [and] I said 'Yeah, I'm serious'.

"He said 'Well, you're not going to believe this, but … we're about to make an announcement in an hour. We're just about to appoint Kevin Walters as the Queensland coach'.

"I said 'Sweet, no worries, I just thought I'd throw my hand up'. Maybe if I rung a week earlier I could've been some hope."

Vautin, who is regarded as one of Queensland's greatest players, made a name for himself as a coach when he led the Maroons to a stunning 3-0 series triumph in 1995 during a period that became known as the Super League war.

The Maroons squad he coached was made up of players solely from the Australian Rugby League-aligned clubs and was missing a host of stars, who were contracted to the clubs that had signed with the News Corporation-backed Super League.

Vautin coached Queensland again in 1996 when Super League-signed players were available but lost to the Blues 3-0.

He lost again as coach in 1997, with the Blues winning the series 2-1 when rugby league was split between the Australian Rugby League and Super League competitions.

Topics: sport, rugby-league, nrl, state-of-origin, brisbane-4000

First posted July 07, 2019 14:10:03