Source: Herald Sun

State of Origin Player Profiles: Billy Slater

Nick Fray, Origin Online and Over the Line Sports

We are now just a week out from one of the most highly-anticipated Origin clashes in history, with the New South Wales Blues presented with a golden opportunity to end eight torturous years of Origin heartache as they take a 1-0 lead to ANZ Stadium where they will look to finally win back the shield in front of their adoring fans.

To celebrate the countdown to Game Two, we begin our series of profiles on the players who will take part in the big game, starting of course with the two men who were arguably the best on the field in Game One, fullbacks Billy Slater and Jarryd Hayne. Here we look at Melbourne’s Slater, who remains under an injury cloud for the big game but will no doubt be doing everything in his power to take the field.

Billy Slater, Queensland

Fullback, Melbourne Storm

Origin Appearances: 23

Origin Tries: 11

Origin Status: Icon

 

An electric fullback with superhuman acceleration and vision, many judges consider Slater the best fullback to ever play the game. When you consider the fact Clive Churchill and Graeme Langlands are among rugby league’s Immortals, that gives you a fair indication of the mark Slater has left on the game since debuting for the Storm back in 2003.

While Slater’s exploits at club level with the NRL have him firmly entrenched as one of the game’s greats, it is his performances in the maroon of Queensland that have elevated him to the exalted status of the game’s legends. Slater made his Origin debut in just his second season of first grade at the age of just 20, and while he had a solid debut it was his second appearance that marked him as a player made for the game’s grandest stage.

With the Maroons trailing by two points, Slater reeled in a Darren Lockyer grubber before producing a chip-kick of his own to bamboozle his opposite number Anthony Minichiello. Slater regathered the kick to score one of the most memorable tries in Origin history, and a Maroons hero was born. Slater’s early Origin career had its ups and downs though, particularly when he was overlooked for the 2006 and 2007 series, the early years of Queensland’s golden run.

Since his return to the side in 2008, however, ‘Billy the Kid’ has been at the forefront of Queensland’s Origin dominance, with a fine record including 11 tries and 3 Man of the Match awards. It is worth noting that Slater has been kept tryless in his last six appearances in the Origin arena, and with time winding down on his career he will desperate to add to his tally in the near future.

Slater comes into this game struggling with a shoulder injury, and at the time of this writing his involvement couldn’t be confirmed by the Queensland hierarchy. As perhaps the Maroons’ best player in Game One and with likely replacement Greg Inglis rated as even more unlikely to take the field, Queenslanders will be desperately hoping he comes good in the coming days and can produce a vintage Slater performance as the Maroons face an enormous task in overturning the series deficit in Sydney.

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