IT’S time. We need you back, Super Coach.

We can’t go through this Origin Groundhog Day charade any longer.

Phil Gould needs to re-take command of the Blues. And while we’re at it, toss in Andrew Johns as assistant coach, and the succession planning is covered.

And if either of them won’t do it, dislodge Peter Sterling from the Nine commentary box.

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One of Australian sport commentary’s great gains has been league coaching’s great losses.

PHIL GOULD BLASTS ‘SELFISHNESS’ IN BLUES LEADERSHIP GROUP

You can hear the pain and frustration in Johns’ and Sterling’s voices during commentary.

They know the Blues are playing dumb football. They know Queensland are a great team, led by great players etc etc. But they, like Gould, know they are very, very beatable.

If only the Blues could get their XXXX together.

Queenslanders have the luxury of lending out their Super Coach — and Gould’s long time adversary — Wayne Bennett to England and Brisbane. When you have Thurston, Smith, Cronk and Boyd or Slater as your spine, and they’ve been there forever, the on-field generals can get the job done, especially against a willing but unsophisticated opposition.

But you sense if they needed him back, Bennett would be only a “Queenslander” call away.

Andrew Johns embraces coach Phil Gould after NSW won the 2003 series. Source: News Corp Australia

It’s hard to recall the last time a NSW team played a smart Origin game. They were committed and tough up in Brisbane for Game II, just not smart. Again.

They tantalisingly built momentum, but just as they had the Queenslanders backtracking and set up for the kill, the ball seemed to go to an ageing forward like Paul Gallen, moving in slow motion.

Cue an exasperated Andrew Johns asking what the hell a foot soldier with a battering ram was doing with the ball in game breaking situations when a playmaking general was required. Or what NSW was doing in Game I fanning the ball across the park rather than taking on the line …

Gould won six and drew one Origin series from eight in two spells as coach: 1992-96 and 2002-04.

While he hasn’t coached Origin for 12 years, that won’t matter.

Phil Gould takes on Maroons fans at Suncorp Stadium. Pic Darren England. Source: News Limited

Nor is age a barrier for Super Coaches: he’s young enough at 58, still 12 years from retirement, according to the former Treasurer.

Super Coaches never really retire anyway. If it walks like a Super Coach, talks like a Super Coach ...

Another Super Coach/Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, led Manchester United to a Premier League title at the age of 71, in his final season with them in 2012-13.

Ferguson was the master of man managing his ridiculous stable of talented footballing millionaires to perform as a champion team.

NSW look like they have some precocious talent emerging. Like most collections of elite talent, they need to respect their leader, whether that is on-field (Thurston and Smith) or off-field, Bennett, Gould or Ferguson.

The Blues may not be able to individually match Thurston and Smith, for now. But even these two great players will slow, their bodies battered from careers of on field sacrifice and commitment. In parts of the first half of Origin II in particular, when the Blues were playing at pace, you could see a glimpse of what could be in the future. And in that blur of Blues speed, you didn’t see that much of Thurston and Smith.

Gould will also sell tickets. He always does, both because of his mere involvement and because, like his old adversary, he is a master of pre match drama, both as motivation for his players, mucking with the minds of the opposition, and fuelling the fans on both sides.

Love him or hate him, everyone will enjoy Origin more with him coaching the Blues again.

If money is an issue, give him a percentage of ticket sales above the average seats sold at Blues home games the last 12 years. There won’t be any empty seats for a Gould-coached Blues in 2017.

Brad Fittler and Phil Gould after winning State of Origin Game Three and the series in 2004. Pic: Gregg Porteous. Source: News Limited

The infamous world of rugby league politics may prevent Gould being asked to coach again. Or there could be health, family or other non-footballing reasons. Hopefully all can be overcome.

Sometimes during a time of sporting post mortems there’s the temptation to look back to those responsible for past glories in the hope for future success.

Other times, you just headhunt the best person for the job, let them come up with the game plan and talent required to play smart enough to beat the opposition.

Play it again, Super Coach.

Michael Koslowski is a former sports editor of the Sydney Morning Herald who gave Phil Gould his first column writing job.