He thought his career may have been over after a debilitating shoulder injury back in 2015, and Billy Slater let it all out after the Storm’s dominant victory over the Cowboys in the NRL grand final.
More 2017 NRL Grand Final
» Perfect Storm were always going to be premiers
» Match report: Storm slam Cowboys
» The Liebke ratings
» Five talking points from the match
» North Queensland Cowboys player ratings
» Melbourne Storm player ratings
» Watch video highlights from the match
Slater picked up his second Clive Churchill medal after a fantastic performance at fullback and he was extremely emotional when speaking to Channel Nine’s Brad Fittler.
“I honestly didn’t know if my body would let me back here and it was the toughest thing I’ve had to sit through last year and the boys going so close and me being helpless and I wasn’t going to let that happen today,” Slater said.
Slater didn’t announce his retirement but the sheer emotion might be a sign that he’ll have a long think about it after the celebrations have died down.
If he does play on in 2018 he’ll join the 300 game club.
Dean
Guest
Hey Ken, which side of town do you live? East West Notth or South. Do you get to the home games?
Ken
Guest
Awesome game Dean and really expressed how I felt too , commiseration to the cowboys an amazingly brave team and their captain Cooper made a wonderful after game speech full of class and emotion .I want to thank all our Storm supporters on here in at times heated arguments with the anti Storm brigade which has been prevelant on this site for the last 6-8 years and has at times been cancerous to a really great fan forum .I can actually say it gives me great satisfaction knowing whatever mean spirited , jealous one eyed commentary made against our great team and players we can always reply as Curtis Scott posted on his Instagram " just went to the doctors and delivered a 2017 premiership baby " ?..Winners are grinners
Dean
Guest
Yes, and they're our goats Duncan. As you said, brilliant. What a whole team performance it was. Yahoo. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Dean
Guest
Absolutely right Duncan. What a day for the Storm club, team & loyal supporters. It's official, the "lid" is off. After last year's disappointment, how sweet it is this time around. Not much of a game for the neutral fans who were hoping for a close game, this was a game for the team's fans as much as it was for sending Cooper Cronk & 2 or 3 others off in style. The intensity we had been hoping to witness was there from the kick off to the final hooter. I did feel sorry for the Cowboys losing a player in the first 5 minutes. Who wouldn't ? For the Storm fans, the "big 3" put on a classic master class, the like of we are never going to see again. How Cameron Smith didn't get the Clive Churchill is a mystery to most fans, but I don't think he's going to lose any sleep over it as it was obvious from the joyous grin on his face when Billy's name was read out. Maybe Billy got the award because there was a fair amount of emotion attached from watching him put in a performance of old. Billy for the ages. Really, there were so many great performances. I prefer to look at is a great team performance. JT13 was kept very quiet, which in itself was a joy to behold. How good are the Cowboys going to be next year with all hands on deck. I was hoping the Storm would jag another couple of quick tries in the last 10 mins to wipe away our 0-40 record losing score in a grand final lol. Talk about being spoilt. A big shout out to Ken, Peter & all the other Storm fans on here, and that includes you Joe (who for a Storm fan is apparently an alright person lol). WoW. Thanks Storm, now how many grand final wins is that now? 1 2 3 4 5 lol. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Duncan Smith
Guest
Imagine having two GOATs in your team. Bloody brilliant!