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Billy Slater out for remainder of the season

Has Billy Slater played his last NRL game? (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Expert
19th June, 2015
1

Melbourne Storm and Queensland Maroons star Billy Slater has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2015 NRL season with a shoulder injury.

This means the fullback will miss Game 3 of State of Origin, with the series currently locked at one game all.

Slater is set to have surgery on his shoulder sometime in the next week, sustaining the injury in a monster hit from Manu Vatuvei during the Storm’s Round 5 clash against the New Zealand Warriors.

Slater was ruled out for a couple of weeks after the game, before returning and playing on injured.

Storm football director Frank Ponissi said, “After Billy sustained the injury initially in Round 5 we knew he would require surgery at some stage.

“At the time we made the decision with Billy to take the conservative approach and rehab and strengthen the joint to get to the end of the season, but knowing potentially at some stage we wouldn’t be able to continue with this approach.”

“After each game I play, the battle to get up for the next week is becoming harder and the shoulder takes longer to settle down not allowing me to play to my full potential,” Slater said.

“Each week I’ve been focused on getting up for the next game and was able to do that for Origin on Wednesday night at the MCG, however the best decision is to undergo surgery now.

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“I’m extremely disappointed not to be available to play for Queensland in Game 3 and especially for the rest of the season with Melbourne Storm.”

This will shake things up for the Storm and Queensland.

The Storm currently sit within the NRL’s top four, however it is hard to see how they will stay in the top eight without Slater. While Slater may be getting on in years, he is still one of the game’s premier fullbacks. His communication skills and organisation of the defensive line are second to none in the NRL, and his experience will be sorely missed by the young Storm backline.

Cameron Munster is likely to be the man anointed to fill the former trackwork jockey’s massive boots, and with Cooper Cronk still injured there is a stack of pressure on Cameron Smith and Blake Green to steer the Storm around the park.

Greg Inglis will more than likely go to fullback for Queensland, opening a spot for Dane Gagai who is in the Maroons’ extended squad. Inglis however, was poor for Australia in the recent Test match against the New Zealand Kiwis, and this will be in GI’s memory come Game 3 at Suncorp Stadium.

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