Give me Billy Slater over Hayne anyday

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By rozamate, 9 Mar 2010 rozamate is a Roar Rookie

Tagged:: Billy Slater, Jarryd Hayne, NRL, Rugby League

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Storm player Billy Slater skips away from Andrew McCullough during the Rugby League, NRL Round 2, Brisbane Broncos v Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium, Friday March 20, 2009. Broncos won 16 - 14. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)

The lead up to the NRL season has seen Jarryd Hayne’s face on the front and back pages of newspapers. It got me thinking, is Hayne really the best fullback Australia has to offer? Is he really is as good as the media has hyped him up to be?

In my opinion, Melbourne fullback Billy Slater has proven himself a far better player than Jarryd Hayne over the years. Not to say that Hayne isn’t as talented as Slater, he just lacks the week in week out consistency needed to be a superstar player.

Nobody can deny Hayne’s super run of form at the end of the season, but the question had to be asked, where was this form at the start of the season, when Parramatta were sitting close to the bottom of the table? Meanwhile, Billy Slater was producing brilliant football every week for Melbourne and for Queensland.

The 2009 grand final was probably the biggest indicator of who was the better player, with the pair playing against each other on the biggest of stages. Jarryd Hayne was hardly seen anywhere on the field whilst Slater produced a typical Slater performance and was awarded the Clive Churchill medal for best on ground.

So, in my opinion, Billy Slater is by far a better player than Jarryd Hayne in the present game and deserves as much press as Hayne.

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The Crowd Says (17) | Page 1 of Comments

Rod said | March 9th 2010 @ 1:18am | Report comment

Hayne for my team.

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oikee said | March 9th 2010 @ 6:49am | Report comment

Hard to decide, both bring a exciting game to the table. I’ll keep watching both.

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sheek said | March 9th 2010 @ 8:34am | Report comment

In the context of the article, I agree, Slater before Hayne.

Besides, I remain to be convinced Hayne puts his team before himself.

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LK said | March 9th 2010 @ 8:44am | Report comment

Ahh, wasn’t Hayne playing 5/8th at the beginning of last season when the Eels were bottom of the table?

Slater has been more consistent over a number of years, hence the better player at the moment. He gets his fair share of press also, Australia’s greatest athlete, ads for Suzuki and Rexona.

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Stormin Red said | March 9th 2010 @ 10:12am | Report comment

Give me Slater anyday. I may be biased (Storm supporter) but Slater’s positioning and defence is a mile ahead of Hayne. They are both brilliant in their own styles of attack but defence is the difference.

Using the GF as an example, Storm picked Hayne apart with their kicking game early and caught him out of position a number of times with Smith and Cronk’s kicks close to the line causing him all sorts of trouble. Then Hayne stood and watched when GI scored his try from an uncontested high ball that Hayne could have easily at least attempted to catch or get in GI’s path. Then late in the game a similar situation for the Eels where they bomb the line and Billy is up their putting his body on the line. He may have spilt the beans but at least he had a go and the Eels didn’t score from it.

Another thing to is the little extra efforts Slater puts in. Whenever the Eels scored Slater would be the last man arriving trying to get his body in under the ball (and he succeeds quite often). When the Storm scored Hayne would be 5-10 metres away watching standing with hands on hips. It is these little extra efforts that make Slater the best No 1 in the game, in my opinion anyway.

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sledgeross said | March 9th 2010 @ 10:14am | Report comment

I think Slater can be called “mercurial”. He can win you games but by golly, he can cost you one as well. He is such a good player though!

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Dogz R Barkn said | March 9th 2010 @ 10:19am | Report comment

I’d say Slater has the better game overall, but Hayne certainly raises the bar when it comes to movement.

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TammyS said | March 9th 2010 @ 10:32am | Report comment

Slater’s hugely advantaged by the fact that he plays in a team filled with superstars (Inglis, Cronk, Cam Smith etc) so I’ll say Hayne.

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apaway said | March 9th 2010 @ 10:55am | Report comment

I honestly think Slater is the most overrated player in the game. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s very good, but there are flaws to his game that crop up at the worst times (the World Cup Final and MIA in the 2008 Grand Final spring to mind). He’s almost a Campese-like flawed genius – capable of amazing feats while able to throw a game away with sheer stupidity.

To me, Jarryd Hayne is almost as brilliant in attack, but is a much better defender. I still can’t work out why Slater continues to slide feet first into goal-line tackles. It’s illegal, rarely effective, and quite possibly cowardly. So I’d take Hayne.

But to throw a spanner in the works – I think Brett Stewart is better than both of them.

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- Hammer said | March 9th 2010 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
  
  got to agree with this … Slater’s defence is average at best …
  
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  - Mals said | March 10th 2010 @ 2:35pm | Report comment
    
    Slater is a CAT so it’s no surprise that his defence is very average!
    
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- Tom said | March 9th 2010 @ 4:23pm | Report comment
  
  MIA in the 2008 GF? Don’t think so – he was the only man on the field for Melbourne that game. Inglis, Cronk and the entire forward pack on the other hand…
  
  And before you ask, I’m a Manly supporter.
  
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ilikelollies said | March 9th 2010 @ 1:14pm | Report comment

Hayne isnt a better defender.

Defence at fullback is all about positioning and when it comes to that Hayne is shocking. See Inglis and Morris tries in finals last year as proof.

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