On Sunday night I wanted to send rugby league and its platoon of “what’s wrong with a bloke havin’ a bit of fun, he’s not hurting anyone?” fans to their room, lock the door, throw away the key, and have as little as possible to do with them.
At least until my head stopped hurting.
Then I remembered the next night I was going to tick an item off my sporting bucket list.
I was going to be working as a sideline reporter for ABC Grandstand’s radio broadcast of the NRL game between St George Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm at Wollongong.
Two teams struggling to find regular winning form, so what’s the big deal you ask?
The big deal for me was it would be my first chance to observe from close quarters the player I regard as the best I’ve ever seen in rugby league: Billy Slater.
Naturally I’ve seen Slater play many, many times, mostly on TV, often from the grandstands, but never from the sidelines and, on this occasion, the sidelines happened to be the very narrow, up-close-and-personal confines of WIN Stadium in Wollongong. So, despite the icy conditions I was looking forward to the experience.
It turned out to be not such a happy occasion for the Storm. They were not at their best and went down to the Dragons 24-12, but it didn’t stop me enjoying my privileged position watching Slater.
He was one of the Storm’s best, scored the 166th try of his career (he’s now 14 tries behind the second-most prolific try scorer in Australian rugby league, Steve Menzies) and while there were passages of play where the Storm looked unaccountably sluggish, that’s not a word you would ever, on his worst day, associate with the 31-year-old fullback whose boundless energy makes it still justifiable to refer to him as ‘Billy the Kid’.
Watching on television doesn’t give you the full picture of what Billy Slater’s contribution to a game is. The tight TV camera angles focus on what’s happening on the ball. A lot of what Slater does is off the ball. When the team is defending he’s alert, marshalling the troops, keeping an eye on the defensive structure and shouting instructions.
But it’s not like he’s instructing and not doing. When Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop made a break up the centre early in the game, the crunching sound of the ferocious ball-and-all hit Slater put on him could be heard, and almost felt, from where I was sitting.
When the Storm have the ball, Slater is still in organising mode. Pointing, shouting, calling plays and when he slots into the backline he does so with a precise purpose – there’s something on, and he might be going to help set it up or to finish it off. Or a bit of both. Or, on occasion, he might be just keeping the defence nervous by ‘looming’ as the great Jack Gibson used to call it. (I heard he used to keep a stat for ‘looms’, but I digress…)
When Slater chimes into the attack he’s not just joining in on the off-chance that something might be on. When Slater gets involved something is on and quite often it looks like he’s called it.
Perhaps he was doing more of that the other night, given the absence of Cooper Cronk, but if you glance back through the Storm stats for any game this season, Slater has his hands on the ball generally 40 or more times, which is close to the same number as either the halfback or five-eighth. On Monday night he had the ball in his hands 45 times, pivot Ben Hampton received the ball 48 times, and halfback Ben Roberts 35 times.
Slater also does a darting run out of dummy half as good as any hooker or winger in the game and his goal-line defence is extraordinary. His ability to flip a would-be tryscorer on his back (nearly did it the other night to the powerful Josh Dugan) is second to none and during his career he’s saved an extraordinary number of tries by getting under the ball over the tryline and preventing the carrier from grounding it.
It shows incredible strength, but more importantly attention to technical detail from a man small enough to have formerly ridden trackwork for racehorse trainer Gai Waterhouse.
Sure, you can say none of that worked on Monday night and the Dragons’ desperate defence can take a lot of credit for that, but even into the dying minutes of the game you could see Slater scheming, plotting and most of all, working to find a way to make something happen.
While I understand how impressive Slater’s main rivals for representative fullback honours can be, there are still games that you come away from after Souths or Parramatta have lost and hear fans saying, “If only Inglis or Hayne could’ve been involved a bit more.”
That’s what makes Slater still the standout. He’s always involved. It does lead to him making more mistakes, but as his coach Craig Bellamy said in a recent column for The Australian his mistakes come from having a go.
No doubt the day will come where one of Slater’s younger rivals will take over the green and gold jersey with the number 1 on the back. Greg Inglis is 27, Jarryd Hayne is 26 and ‘The Kid’ will be the old guy eventually, but I for one am not in a hurry for that day to arrive.
Backtracking now to the comment I made about him being the best player I have ever seen. Perhaps you thought I really meant the best fullback I’ve ever seen. No, I meant the best player. But let’s start with fullbacks.
Lots of pundits with better credentials than me rank Slater the best fullback they’ve seen. I don’t think there’s much doubt about that, and my earliest memories of league fandom start with being a primary-schooler who adored Ken Thornett. I’ve seen and admired quite a few number ones since then.
Les Johns was one of the reasons I became a Canterbury supporter. I remember Changa Langlands as a centre and a fullback (and yes, by the way, Josh Dugan does put me in mind of him quite a bit). I remember the battles between Graham Eadie, Garry Dowling and Russell Fairfax for fullback supremacy in the 1970s. I recall taking a while to get used to Greg Brentnall having usurped Dowling’s position at Belmore by the late ’70s but then marvelling at his ability under the high ball and his kicking skills.
And there was Garry Jack with his fierce competitiveness, Brett Mullins making witches hats of defenders with his elusive runs, the class of Gary Belcher, the young and gifted Darren Lockyer starting out as Broncos fullback when he looked like a 12-year-old…
I’ve probably missed some out. But I have seen them and marvelled at their abilities.
But Slater’s got them covered in all departments. We’re deep into the realms of opinion here, but I can’t see an area of the game where any of the star fullbacks I’ve mentioned are superior to Slater.
He can bust open a defence like Eadie, Thornett or Langlands, read the play and set up others like a Belcher or Lockyer, defend like Jack, judge where to turn up in support like Johns, handle the high ball like Fairfax or Brentnall and run tryline to tryline beating defenders with a combo of devastating acceleration, evasive skills and sheer sustained pace to score like Mullins.
That makes him not just the best fullback the modern game has ever seen, but someone who is equal to or better than every other fullback in living memory in whatever the strongest facet of their play was.
I don’t know that any other star player in any other position on the field has his major all-time rivals covered in such a way.
For example, many people rate Andrew Johns the greatest of all time in any position. My response to that would be that, in most departments of halfback play, Andrew Johns was better or equal to other great halfbacks. But could he turn a game with quicksilver brilliance and pace like Steve Mortimer in his prime? No. Did he really have Ricky Stuart covered in tactical kicking ability? I’m not sure.
You can work your way through the other candidates and test my theory along those lines, or you can just decide I’m delusional. I don’t care.
But I know for the last 10 years whenever Billy Slater has been involved in a game I’m keen to watch because there’s always the chance to see something extraordinary happen. And if it doesn’t happen, you at least have the non-stop pleasure of watching him try to make something extraordinary happen.
Finally, may I suggest that if Slater had played for a Sydney club, or the Brisbane Broncos, and been on free-to-air television every other week rather than for a non-traditional club that a lot of rugby league watchers have made up their minds to hate, more people would be rating him as highly as I do.
wazza perth nz ex pat
Guest
He's probably passing the ball when running at 500mph (ok - klms) Would he be the fastest pace wise i wonder?
wazza perth nz ex pat
Guest
Agreed !!
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
I'd argue that Slater is a very good supporting fullback, but didn't re-write the book of fullback play. That was done by Lockyer and is being re-written by Hayne. Think about it. Lockyer always had that ball-playing ability, was a very good supporter and that allowed him to make the move to 5/8. Slater is very similar to Lockyer in his positional play, albeit is definitely behind in both the kicking and passing facets. Now you look at Hayne. As big as a lot of back-rowers, athletic, strong, powerful. Kicking game is top notch along with passing. He plays as a second 5/8. He's very dangerous with ball in hand as he has the lot. Kicking, passing and running are all at an elite level.
Toa
Guest
"thats footy" is fairly weak counter claim when you assessing the total amount of on filed indiscretion Biily has. Frustrations are settled in various ways however there's a major difference when you attack a defenceless player as Hayne was, Johns & Goddard incident was frontal, Billiy's wasn't it resemble the same weak attics that got him 7 weeks in 2006 for the John Skanlidis incident, nothings change since then. Slaters judiciary record speaks for itself, end of story, case closed.
V.O.R.
Guest
The games changed a lot, it's much faster, the players are much fitter and bigger....this just makes Billy Slater's performances all the more amazing...I agree it's difficult to compare generations....but you can compare show reels and I'm sorry Kenny is not a pinch on Billy Slater for the feats they have managed on a football field.
Joel
Guest
Toa, so Joey goes and picks fights with Goddard and has immortality, I don't think you guys really have a case here, thats footy, not everyone is perfect (yes, except Lockyer that is).
Old Pete
Guest
Of those I had the chance to watch: 1 Churchill 2 Lockyer 3 Langlands/Slater 5 Mullins/Eadie
Johnk
Guest
Sorry Debbie it has to be Lockyer for me!
oldergent371
Guest
I didn't see Churchill but I've seen every notable fullback since: Thornett, Langlands, Johns, Eadie, Jack, Barnes & yes Hayne & Co. For mine, Slater has rewritten the Book of Fullback Play. The others worked from the first edition, Billy has written the second edition. As Sterlo says, he is as dangerous without the ball as in possession. He is unpredictable, lightning fast, nimble. He can turn up anywhere. He is fearless. He's a wonderful risk taker & must inevitably make an occasional mistake in consequence but who would want to rein him in? For 80 minutes he represents 'a clear & present danger'. He has an amazing capacity to be in position when the kicks come after the 5th tackle. He must be a nightmare to coach against. Someone here has questioned his passing ability. Mate, get your eyes tested. The best of all? You make a good case for Billy, Deb, though the question is probably unanswerable.
Leaguecoach101
Guest
Not sure about the best of all time but I think Billy's first world problem is that he has been so consistently good, playing in 3 teams which have been so consistently good (Storm, Maroons, Kangaroos) for such a long time that we footy fans get complacent about him. We just expect Slater to be brilliant every single time he plays. We don't celebrate his brilliance because he has been so consistent for so long. As for the Immortal comment? I have no doubt Billy will get the nod one day. But not before Lockyer.
Jimmy
Guest
Christian Cullen, ho, ho, couldn't tackle my aunt Martha if she was running at full pace.
trev
Guest
Very good player but it must also be pointed out that his errors played a big part in NZ winning the League World Cup a few years ago. If you want to see a great fullback go to youtube and type in "Christian Cullen" - I have never seen anyone sidestep at that pace in all my years of watching the rugby codes.
Toa
Guest
Joel, if your going to revive the Hayne head butt incident then i suggest you review the video shortly after it clearly shows Billy's spiteful retribution. The footage clearly shows Slater targeting the back of Haynes neck with cock elbow, how that wasn't reported by the Paramatta,media & the judiciary is beyond me. I'm not here to bash Slater however if someone trying convince me he deserves the status of immortality then I believe your vanity metrics measurements are flawed. As a fullback Darren Lockyer is the perfect candidate for immortally, his competitive nature doesn't allow his frustrations to become uncontrollable unlike Slater his game has always been riddled with onfield indiscretions.
mick
Guest
Agree. You only need to check manly w/l record when he is out to see his value.
Jackson Henry
Guest
Debbie, I too love your work, but have to say, it was pretty innocuous comment and I was a bit surprised at the reaction. Plus, I have at most half your experience (and one tenth of your resume), but I have to disagree in the strongest terms possible - in my opinion, there is just no way anyone with a pair of eyes can say that Slater comes close to Lockyer in pretty much any category of play. Ask Ricky Stuart what he thinks of the comparison: he coached them both and he's said there's simply no competition.
Jackson Henry
Guest
Me too on both counts. Aeons ahead.
Pat Malone
Guest
One of my favourite players to watch. Him and JT combining was magic
Joel
Guest
What if Hanye decided to play Aussie Rules as a kid?
Pat Malone
Guest
Good old Johnno, loves making a list and always includes some weird outlier like Barnett
Joel
Guest
Hayne is an awsome player, don't get me wrong, his ability to step with his size is just something else and is the best in the NRL, that is his trade mark. He has a quicker 5m start than Inglis and equal to Slater, though Inglis has more upper body power, but takes longer to get motored. Hayne is a bit more like bowen but of course not as quick, but hayne has that ability to pause and dummy the defence, he puts the defence in false minds, some players do it with the ball like Thurston & Wally. Hayne does it with his footwork like Bowen. Haynes passing game is up there but not the best like Slater & Inglis. If any of the three did have passing games like Lockyer they would have been moved to the halves long time ago, some tried, but are where they are because that is where they belong. Stewart has the best passing game out of the best FB going at the moment. Haynes & Inglis gap running and support is not as good as Slater & Stewarts, but they are better line breakers. Of course Slater takes the cake in organisational skills and positioning. They all have great free running games but of course Slatter needs more speed and agility being the smallest bloke he doesn't have the luxury like Inglis and Hayne to be a tackle breaker, he has to use his footwork and skill to avoid the defence more. Stewart is in the middle here. Slater and Hayne have it over Inglis and Stewart with the chip, chase and regather. Slater has the better short kicking game, grubbers into the in goal and he and Stewart are experts at scoring from grubbers and cleaning up grubbers resulting from their positioning, work rate, stamina and speed. For his size slater also (and he modernised this tactic as FB) to spoil the try scorer, whether held up ball and all, getting his body under the ball. Of course this is where he would attempt to spoil the ball with his feet as a tactic but was pulled up and reprimanded. This is somthing that has improved over time with Inglis, but more due to his upper body strength and power. With the pressure of the game and split timings for decision making there are plenty of FB and defenders that have lead with their feet or knees to try and spoil the try scorer, we have seen it many times over the years even erupting into fights and Slatter pushed the boundary and paid the penalty but he has taken it out of his game. Though it can happen at any time with the pressure of the game as we saw with Haynes knees on Boyed in the recent SOO. Under the high ball with chargers Hayne and Inglis have it over Slater due to body weight and size. This is why Slater always jumps high for the ball at this stage is to protect himself as you "can not" tackle a player in mid air. His feet can be in any position they like, a defender "can not" touch them, if the defender touches Slaters feet it is penalty to Slater. (It is like sending off Tait for head butting Merrins fist .... what the?) Hayne has the better long kicking game but not the best at it so better leave it to the halves. Though Hayne possesses a great bomb kick. I don't think Inglis should think about kicking at all. My top list as it stands today: 1.Slater 2.Stewart 3.Hayne 4.Inglis 5.Boyed Slater and Stewart are classic all round FB's, Hayne and Inglis do well at FB but not up to the all round standards. Hayne and Inglis at FB allow them more room to do what they do best and that is power run, tackle break, line break they are all super freak athletes. Being a Cow I am still watching Michael Morgan in that position, he is gaining a lot of experience about the game and new found skills and belief. Ultimately I think the Cows though would be better placing him at 5/8 with Thurston as Half Back, he has a stronger running game than Thurston through size and more upper body strength to take on the line. Though the stint at fullback for his game is only going to make his game better. Anyway that is my opinion on some of the skills that differentiates these outstanding full backs that we have the pleasure to witness in the modern game.