The Queensland Rugby League will honour Maroons coach Billy Slater's own timetable on contract negotiations because chairman Bruce Hatcher says he is "one of a kind".
Slater is off-contract at the end of this State of Origin series, already wrapped up with an unassailable 2-0 lead, and Hatcher said the QRL was not concerned by Slater's reluctance to make any definitive statements about his future when probed by media at press conferences.
Hatcher said he would expect nothing less.
The QRL wants to keep Slater long term but Hatcher said they had reached agreement about when contract negotiations would occur.
"Billy was very clear when I spoke to him a couple of months ago about sorting out his future and that there would be plenty of time after Origin to do that," Hatcher told AAP.
"He is singularly focused on being successful in this Origin series and once it's all over he said he would be happy to talk about it.
"He is very thorough and very mature. He alone knows what he wants to do and at the end of this series we will have to sit down and convince him that we'd love to keep him long term.
"The better the results he gets the more likely he is to have a lot of options. We will do our best. He has been great for Queensland."
Slater spoke on Thursday ahead of game three of the Origin series in Sydney on July 12.
"I am really enjoying this. I really am. This is great, but it takes up a fair bit of time. I've got a lot on," Slater said when asked about his future.
"I will sit down with (QRL CEO) Ben Ikin, the right people and my family...and work out what is best for all parties moving forward.
"We will worry about this year first. I will just focus on the job I've got at hand and that's preparing for an Origin game."
Slater has been linked with a possible head coaching job in the NRL in the future, with his former club the Melbourne Storm one of them.
He also has media commitments with Channel Nine and business interests that keep him busy. Slater was asked whether an NRL gig interested him.
"I didn't see myself standing here being the Queensland coach a few years ago," he said.
"You never know what is around the corner. Right now I am happy with what I am doing and where my life is."
One thing for certain is Slater has impressed the QRL hierarchy.
"Billy is one of a kind. He came from an outstanding career as a player in the Storm environment under Craig Bellamy but this is his first head coaching role," Hatcher said.
"He picked the coaches and staff around him and he has picked the right players who have all performed for him.
"There are very few guys that strike you as being totally in control of the way they want to do things, but Billy is one of them. Everything is well thought out and well planned."
