Billy the Kid captured our hearts, and now he’s bowing out of rugby league
After more than 300 NRL games, Billy Slater has decided to call it a day.
The Melbourne Storm full-back will hang up the boots on his rugby league career at the end of the current NRL season, with every chance of ending it on a high with yet another piece of silverware.
Billy Slater's factfile:
- Age: 35
- NRL career: 2003-18, 313 games (and counting)
- NRL tries: 187
- Test career: 2008-17, 30 matches, 27 tries
Honours
- 2011 Dally M Medallist
- 2012 and 2018 NRL premiership
- 2009 and 2017 Clive Churchill Medallist
- Eight State of Origin titles
- Two NRL premierships
- Two World Cup titles
- Two Four Nations titles
"I feel so very lucky to have had the career I've had," Slater told a media conference.
"Eighteen years ago I made the decision to pack my car up to drive 20 hours to chase my dream.
"This club gave me the opportunity. I've always felt extremely grateful and a sense of loyalty to this club and the people associated with it.
"I am proud to have helped in the development of this club to become one of the most powerful sporting organisations in Australia. I am also proud of the part I have played in the growth of rugby league in this state.
"To the fans of rugby league, thanks for creating the atmosphere at the games, thanks to all our Melbourne Storm supporters who pour into AAMI Park each week, but also thanks to all fans from all teams, it's been a pleasure to entertain you all."
A member of the Storm's "Big Three" — including Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk — Slater scooped up two NRL premierships, a Dally M Medal and two Clive Churchill Medals during his Melbourne tenure.
On top of that, he was a key member of the Maroons' all-conquering State of Origin team, playing his part in eight series wins with 31 matches under his belt.
This year he was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal for the second time as player of the series in Queensland's losing 2018 Origin series, despite missing the first game through injury.
Billy the Kid captured league fans' hearts
From the early days of his career, the little kid from Innisfail looked determined to succeed in rugby league, in a sport filled with giant players determined to take him out.
In 2002, he rocked up to Melbourne Storm preseason with the hope he could snare one of just two spots left on the roster.
By 2003, he was making his debut in a stunning arrival for the Storm, scoring a try on the wing as the Melbourne side came from 22-0 down against Cronulla to prevail 36-32.
His debut season would see him shifted around from wing, to fullback, to centre and back to fullback, but across the backs, his blinding talent was obvious as he scooped the Dally M Rookie of the Year and finished as the team's highest try scorer that year.
In 2004, Slater cranked it up a notch. After making a solid debut in State of Origin Game I, the phenom would ignite in Game II, scoring one of the all-time great individual tries to help level the series for Queensland.
Running on to Darren Lockyer's grubber kick, Slater burst into space, showing an incredible shift in direction before chipping the ball over Anthony Minichiello and putting on the afterburners to score a sensational try.
External Link: Billy Slater's incredible try for the Maroons in 2004
From then on, Slater was permanently ensconced in rugby league's attentions. He would top the NRL's try-scoring the following year, though controversy followed after his axing from the Maroons' Origin side.
It would be three years before Queensland would see Slater in an Origin jumper, and in the interim Slater endured a quiet year, copping three suspensions in the 2006 season, and playing just 15 matches for the Storm.
But his return to form coincided with the Storm's rise to power in 2007 — scoring 12 tries in 23 matches — but grand final glory would be snuffed out by the salary cap scandal, as would the 2009 title.
Nevertheless, his Clive Churchill in 2009 — which he was able to keep amid the Storm's salary cap sanctions — and two consecutive player-of-the-year club awards confirmed what many in the game were positing: Billy Slater was arguably the best in the business.
Slater thanks Bellamy, family, Cronk and Smith
Sitting alongside his long-time Storm coach Craig Bellamy, Slater said he was grateful for his mentor showing faith in him way back in 2003.
"Thanks for believing in me. Your support and guidance and care has been really instrumental throughout my career," Slater said.
"You taught me the harder you work, the luckier you get, and I have no doubt my career would not have been as successful or consistent if you did not instil that work ethic in me."
Slater also thanked his 'Big Three' teammates Cronk and Smith, and his parents.
"To Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, not only have you guys helped create opportunities for me on the field, but when your peers drive themselves to be the best and they continually succeed, it's infectious," he said.
"To my family, starting with my mum and my dad and my sister Sheena, thank you for all your support throughout my football life.
"Mum, you'd wash the jerseys and cut the oranges, you'd drive me to training and you'd be my cheer squad on game day.
"Dad, you put the passion for rugby league in me. Ever since I can remember, I've loved this game and that started with you. You both made all this possible."
Like fine wine, Slater got better and better
Over the course of his soon-to-be-concluded NRL career, Slater has run in 187 tries in a sustained period of excellence for the Storm.
There was the occasional blip on his time in Australian national colours — his man-of-the-series performance in the 2010 World Cup would never mask the disappointment of the final loss to New Zealand — but 27 tries for the Kangaroos, a Four Nations triumph and two World Cup titles tell their own story.
Slater's performances in 2012 also live long in the memory. He would start the season in white-hot form, scoring nine tries in the opening five matches, and was picked as full-back for Origin I and II as Queensland extended its run to an incredible seven-straight Origin series wins.
He finished that NRL season with 16 tries in 21 matches — with his tally at 140 career NRL tries, it made him the league's highest-ever try-scoring full-back, but the best was still to come.
There would be redemption on the field for the Storm, following their 2007 and 2009 titles getting stripped for rorting the salary cap, when they beat the Canterbury Bulldogs 14-4 in the grand final, bringing to an end a sordid chapter in the club's history.
The irrepressible Slater scored a try in that victory, and earned a nibble on the ear for his troubles after a scuffle with the Bulldogs' James Graham.
Injuries would foreshadow the closing of his career, when Slater was rubbed out midway through the rest of the 2015 season with a shoulder injury that would bedevil him for the next few years.
Slater looked to be back in the opening round of 2016, but a late withdrawal from a round-two pick saw him ruled out for the entirety of the season after an arthroscope on his shoulder. He would undergo another reconstruction as speculation intensified over his playing future.
The injured star did what he could with the tools he had. He picked up the Peter Jackson Medal after the Maroons recognised Slater for his assistance to Queensland Kevin Walters on the sidelines during the 2-1 series win over New South Wales.
Slater was treated with kid gloves for the start of 2017, making his return from injury in the third round and starting games the next week.
That season, it was like he never left. Slater featured in 21 matches for the Storm, notching 11 tries and playing his part in 19 wins — a phenomenal 90 per cent win rate.
He would end that season with an incredible trifecta of titles, hoovering up the NRL premiership, a State of Origin series win and a World Cup title.
With the 2018 season still to finish, and the Storm sitting second on the ladder, one last grand final fling remains in his sites.
The time is right after injuries take their toll
In a game Slater had given so much, the injury toll was threatening to take something away from him which he would never get back.
Slater had a lot to consider after two shoulder reconstructions saw him miss nearly three years of action, and most of those thoughts turned to the future, once his playing career was over.
"He has a young family and the big concern for him was picking up his young kids," Storm great Dallas Johnson told Fairfax.
"I don't think he would have jeopardised his health if he thought footy was going to ruin that, to have to go through that hard work to get back, twice, was a real setback."
A family man through and through, Slater has often remarked on how his wife Nicole and children Tyla and Jake have stood by him during his injury setbacks.
"I feel extremely lucky to have shared this part of my life with my children Tyla and Jake, to be in the middle in a grand final and have your son and daughter run past you while they're delivering the kicking tee, that's a special moment I will remember forever," Slater said at his media conference.
"To my wife Nicole, haven't we enjoyed some incredible moments? It's been the tough times that you've been there for me most, the poor performances, the selection disappointments, and the one that really hit us hard: injuries.
"You have given me unconditional love and support, and although sitting up here today is extremely scary, knowing I have you makes it comforting."
His influence on the game has been obvious for so long. For kids playing in the backyard, Slater is often the man budding young players would look to emulate.
Now that mantle must pass on as the NRL salutes one of its all-time greats, an illustrious, pocket-sized fullback whose exploits will live long in the memory.
"I'd just like to thank the game of rugby league. It gave me heroes when I was a boy, and a chance to become one myself. It's given me opportunity, security, friendship and values. For this I am forever in debt to our game."
[contf]
[contfnew]
ABC .net
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
