#5 Billy Slater
It wasn't all smooth sailing for the second member of the "big three" to feature in the countdown, but 2012 proved once again a successful campaign for the man many already consider to be the best fullback in the history of the game. The 29 year old suffered an injury to his left knee in Origin game 2 that saw him miss several games, yet Slater still managed to be one of the most prolific attacking players in the NRL. Slater began the season in mind blowing fashion, as Melbourne began the season by dishing out floggings to almost everyone who were unfortunate enough to cross their path. Slater was the lead strike weapon in the Melbourne onslaught, scoring 2 tries in the first game of the year. Slater would go on to score doubles in 4 straight games, before finally being restricted to just 1 try in the Storm's 5th game of the year, seeing him with an astonishing 9 tries in just the first 5 games of the season. Slater would go on to have 6 games where he would cross the line multiple times, finishing up with 16 tries which was good enough for tied 6th in the NRL, despite missing games for Origin and through injury. He made 20 line breaks, 86 tackle busts, 31 offloads, and 18 try assists, which would be great stats for a guy who played the entire season, let alone a guy who played only 19 games, including a couple where he was clearly still getting himself back into full gear. Slater would turn out for Australia in a victory over New Zealand, play two Origin's for Queensland, missing the third due to injury, as part of yet another Queensland Origin series win, and play an integral part in Melbourne's Grand Final victory and World Club Challenge victory. Despite the injuries trying to slow him down, Slater was a winner in everything he did in 2012 and remained one of the competitions most lethal players, though he did have to deal with Iron James Graham feasting on his ear in the Grand Final.
Billy the Kid does it all
Slater's illustrious career is littered with awards...
- 2004 Peter Frilingos Memorial Award
- 2008 Dally M Fullback of the Year
- 2008 Golden Boot award
- 2008 RLIF Fullback of the Year
- 2008 RLIF Player of the Year
- 2008 RLW Player of the Year
- 2009 Clive Churchill Medal
- 2010 Dally M Rep Player of the Year
- 2010 Wally Lewis Medal
- 2011 Dally M Fullback of the Year
- 2011 Dally M Player of the Year
- 2011 RLIF Fullback of the Year
- 2011 RLIF Player of the Year
so much so that there's very much a reasonable argument to be made that Slater should be number 1 in the countdown. He's played 18 games for Australia scoring 18 tries, part of 5 Origin winning campaigns, 19 Origin appearances for 11 tries, and 224 NRL games all with Melbourne for 140 tries. Unsurprisingly, he's also a former NRL leading try scorer. 2012 saw Slater eclipse the great Rhys Wesser's 130 try mark to become the most prolific try scoring fullback the game has ever seen, and Slater shows little sign of slowing down.
One of the all time great Origin tries
Slater is possibly the fastest player in the NRL across 20-30 metres, his acceleration may well be his best asset. He's certainly quick over a full field stretch also, though there are several in the competition who would have him beat, but over a short distance he's as quick as they come. This makes Slater ideal for the short over the top kicks that Smith and Cronk put through for him regularly, or for taking off once getting through a gap. His support play is again amongst the very best in the competition, and the acceleration pays huge dividends here also, maintaining a steady stride in support until he's hit with a pass and pins his ears back. His speed is so great over those short distances that often he has chewed off enough of the field that he can't be caught. That speed is accompanied by great agility, he's got a very useful step, but he's also very adept at swerving while he is running, turning defenders inside out in one on one situations, or getting himself into a position where he's given himself an ideal angle to turn the turbo on and take off. As the tackle bust stats show, he's very capable of shedding a tackle, despite being a small bloke at 178 and 89kg, the force he runs at defenders with when unleashing his acceleration lets him rip his way out of would be tacklers and he's another one of these slippery characters that manages to worm his way out of tackles also. While the blinding acceleration and the tries are the stand out features of his attacking game, what often gets underrated is his great ability as a ball player. Slater isn't one of these other fullbacks who shifts into the 6 jersey, but he makes his way into the attacking line and adds some very useful distribution skills as part of those so well rehearsed Melbourne attacking plays. This is reflected in the number of assists he managed to pile up even in a shortened year, he makes tries with his ability to break through the line and break tackles, but also with a very intelligent passing game that Melbourne makes full use of and add to that a useful little kicking game also. He's not going to navigate your team around the park with his boot, but he's got some great chips and grubbers that he can pull out when necessary which become a dangerous combination with his great line-speed to chase after those loose balls.
Slater with the "trick shot"
While being one of the most incredible attacking players in the competition, Slater is also extremely valuable on defense. He, much like Barba, has become exceptionally skilled in the art of "try saving", getting under the ball, dislodging the ball, every little trick he can come up with to prevent someone putting the ball down over his line. Slater went through a stretch in his career where he really pushed this to the limits, often sliding in studs first at would be try scorers trying to knock the ball out of their hands, but his dangerous antics were stomped out. While it was considered dirty and dangerous, it still showed the type of creative, stopping the tries at all costs mentality that Slater takes to defense. He puts his body on the line, he'll throw himself into the path of some of the stampeding monsters in the game, and at the very least try to slow them down. Which leads on to my favourite thing about Billy Slater, this guy may just be the most fearless player in the competition. The way he leaps into the air to catch the high ball is one of the greatest spectacles in the competition, he makes you think you are watching a game of AFL. Once the ball is bombed up, Slater leaps into the air without a care in the world beyond bringing that ball down with him. He's taken some really heavy blows as a result, but he gets back up and does it again and again, regularly leaping over taller, stronger opponents. He isn't one of these guys who thinks about maybe batting the ball down, unless it's the intelligent play to make, he goes up to catch the ball. For all of these montage videos that are around on YouTube, someone should make one just based around Slater diffusing high balls, he's courageous, fearless and it's a remarkable site to behold.
Billy the Kid riding high again
That concludes number 5 in my countdown of the 30 best players in the NRL, hard to believe that tomorrow will be number 4. Wrapping up the final footy free Saturday night, we've nearly gone through our final footy free weekend. Check back in tomorrow for number 4, any comments or feedback message me on Twitter @WellsNorthShore
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