Cameron Smith speaks highly of Billy Slater’s success
Cameron Smith who captains Melbourne Storm speaks highly of the accomplishments achieved by Billy Slater, who is marching towards his 200th National Rugby League (NRL) game with his club on Friday, August 19, AAMI Park.
According to Smith, what Slater has achieved is a rare accomplishment achieved by very few players in the world of rugby spread out over nine great years.
When Slater joined in with Storm back in 2002 was not confirmed until 2003, when his spot on the squad was converted into a full time one.
While recalling Slater’s initial days with the club, Smith added, “He joined our club as a young guy, just a skinny little fullback. Probably a lot of people didn't think he'd be able to play first grade, but he worked really hard to prepare himself physically
for the demands of playing NRL.”
Slater always wanted to be part of the first -grade games and to represent on the NRL level. When he made his debut back in 2002, he scored 19 tries in 26 appearances, which then led to his booking a permanent spot on the Storm’s squad.
After giving in nine glorious years with premierships like State of Origin, Golden Boot Award, Series victories and Clive Churchill Medals already under his belt, Slater has extended his stay with the Storm until 2015.
According to Smith, the key to Slater’s success is pure hard work and that too in ample volumes, which led him to progress to fullback position for both Australia and Queensland.
While speaking about the ingredient of Slater’s success, Smith stated, “When he first started he had a lot of speed, he was a great athlete, but was missing a few other attributes that were needed to be a good, all-round first-grade footballer. He worked
really hard on his passing, his support play and he worked really hard on small a individual skill, that’s what has made him become a great player.”
Smith acknowledges that Slater’s hard work and commitment has propagated him to this level because of which he is able to play 200 games for his club. This makes him the third player of his franchise to have achieved that milestone.
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