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Many people consider Billy Slater the best player in the world and plenty say he is the best fullback, not only in the game, but of all time.
He is a shoe in to be an Immortal.
The Melbourne Storm number one aggravated an old knee injury during Saturday’s 62-0 quarter-final victory over the USA on Saturday and it is now confirmed that he will miss next week’s semi-final and is in grave doubt to play in the final on Saturday week.
Normally when a key spine player of the ilk of Slater is injured panic station are set off and the opposition (England and NZ) get excited.
I am one of those in the opposition shed, as I have supported the Kiwis to go back to back, but based on what we witnessed this weekend the Kangaroos will not be weakened without Billy Slater, in fact, I will likely firm Australia in my ratings.
Based on 2013 form, Greg Inglis is a superior fullback to Billy Slater in my opinion, and the move will allow the NRL’s in-form Michael Jennings to slot in smoothly into his favoured left centre position.
Perhaps the main reason for the pencil to be sharpened when assessing the Kangaroos is Jarryd Hayne who has finally arrived on the International rep scene and we can now see what all the fuss has been about.
His performance to score four tries and set up another was nothing short of staggering as he made nine tackle breaks and four line breaks.
Credit must be given to Bob McCarthy and the coaching staff for selecting Hayne over the very reliable Brent Tate and while it may have appeared an easy choice, replacing an incumbent who never has a bad game would have been tough. The fact is, Tate simply cannot do what Hayne can – few players can.
So on the negative side of the ledger we have Billy Slater out, and on the positive side Greg Inglis will play fullback, Michael Jennings come in to centre and the Kangaroos have found a major distinctive X factor called Hayne.
All up, not a bad day for Australia.
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