Kings Kisinen: Billy Slater Australian Rugby Football Player

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Billy Slater Australian Rugby Football Player

Billy Slater (born 18 June 1983 in Nambour, Queensland) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Melbourne Storm of the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative fullback, he has played his whole NRL career to date at Melbourne.

One of rugby league's most accoladed current players, Slater has been awarded the 2008 Golden Boot Award, the 2008 and 2011 RLIF Awards for the International Player of the Year, the 2009 Clive Churchill Medal, the winner of the television game show Australia's Greatest Athlete in 2009 and 2010, and the Dally M Medal in 2011 for the NRL's best and fairest player. He holds the tryscoring record for the Storm with 124 tries.

Slater began playing rugby league for the Brothers club in Innisfail, Queensland at only four years old. He continued to make the Innisfail representative side every season until his final year with the club. At sixteen years of age, Slater decided to follow his personal passion for thoroughbred racing, working initially in Sydney as a roustabout for the racehorse trainer, Gai Waterhouse.

Slater lives in Melbourne with his wife, Nicole Slater (née Rose). They were married in Cairns in November 2009 and have two children, a daughter, Tyla Rose and a son, Jake. Billy Slater participated in the television show Australia's Greatest Athlete and was the winner for both Season 1 (broadcast on Channel 9).

Season 2 (on Channel 7) against a diverse range of athletes such as Olympic gold medalist Steve Hooker, ironman Ky Hurst and V8 Supercar champions Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes. A regular contributor to Canterbury Junior Football Club in Melbourne, Slater also frequently gives up his time to help other Junior Sport Programs around Australia.

In August 2008, Slater was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and in October 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man Australian squad but hesitated playing since he and his wife were expecting their first child. Billy Slater went on to play fullback for Australia in the 2008 World Cup, scoring hat-tricks in matches against England & Fiji. Billy Slater won the Man of the match twice in tournament for his performance in both games.

In the NRL, Slater again played for Melbourne Storm. He scored two tries in Round 2 where he broke the record for the number of tries scored for Melbourne Storm, previously held by Matt Geyer. Slater scored a further try in games held in Rounds 5, 6, 8, 21, and 25 and in Rounds 16 and 23, he scored two tries in each game. The Melbourne Storm won the minor premiership, but were defeated by the New Zealand Warriors in the Preliminary Final, ending Slater's season. He was awarded the 2011 Dally M Medal for best and fairest player of the year in the NRL.