Now, Maroons champion turned coach, Billy Slater, is helping the heir to his No.1 jersey - Knights dynamo Kalyn Ponga - to do the same.

Ponga, who debuted off the bench in Slater's penultimate Queensland appearance, plays his first Origin under the new Maroons mentor in Sydney on Wednesday night.

Entering camp last week after a mixed and arduous campaign with the Knights in the first half of the NRL season, he has spent the past nine days under the tutelage of arguably the game's greatest ever fullback.

The 24-year-old might have struggled to produce his best form in club footy this year, but Slater - who said on Origin eve he had relished working with Ponga - is confident he will shine for the Maroons.

"He has been good. He has had a really good week of preparation," Slater said on Tuesday.

"We all know what Kalyn Ponga can do. That's been a part of our job, to get Kalyn Ponga at his best.

"That's all we need. We need Kalyn Ponga at his best, we need Daly Cherry-Evans at his best, Cameron Munster at his best, Josh Papalii ...

"If everyone's at their best, we're at our best."

The Maroons are chasing their first series win since 2020, a series Ponga missed due to injury.

Despite debuting in 2018, Ponga will make only his fifth Origin appearance tonight after missing six games in the past three years.

He is yet to play a full series.

Ponga and Slater may have spent little more than a week together, but if the duo's admiration for each other is a sign of how their relationship has blossomed, NSW fans should be concerned.

"I've got a lot of time for Kalyn," Slater said.

"Off the field, he is a great person,"Slater said of Ponga.

"It makes you want to help them.

"I've had a bit of a relationship with Kalyn over the last three years.

"He is a really good lad, a very talented footballer and it's been an enjoyable nine days working with him."

Ponga has kept in touch with Slater since making his debut wearing No.14 in 2018.

The pair have exchanged text messages at times, increasingly so since Slater took on the coach's role.

Fully aware of Slater's achievements as a player, Ponga planned to use his time in the Maroons camp to learn from one of the game's greats.

"I remember in 2018 I had a little bit of a conversation with him just about fullback stuff. I was young and probably didn't know very much at all, to be honest," Ponga told QRL.com earlier this week.

"I'm older now, I'm not so shy, I can see the opportunity in front of me to learn and I'm definitely going to take that.

"I am here to learn and get as much out of it as I can in that sense, but I'm old enough to know what my game is and where I can improve and what I do well."

Ponga's Newcastle teammate Dane Gagai will make his 20th appearance for the Maroons at Accor Stadium.

The 31-year-old has been part of four series victories with Queensland since debuting in Game III, 2015.

A prolific try-scorer in the Origin arena in his first 11 games, scoring just as many, the centre has not crossed since bagging a double in Game I, 2019.

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