"although every indication suggests he’ll play his way back into a Maroons jumper"
Who wrote this bullocks? Billy Slater is a long shot at best of getting back in the team unless Darius Boyd gets injured I can't see it happening. Wing? Centre? I wouldn't put him in either of those spots unless Queensland squad was absolutely depleted- and there are also questions if Slater will be able to stay healthy during the next two month period leading up to origin.
Slater should just worry about staying healthy and fitting back into his club team with the Storm. After his two years away from the game through shoulder injuries, there's an argument that it would be in Slater's best interests to retire from state of origin to prolong his football career.
"QUEENSLAND
Billy’s back — at least for Melbourne.
Whether he’ll return to the Queensland and Australian sides remains to be seen, although every indication suggests he’ll play his way back into a Maroons jumper.
But where does he fit?
It would be silly to think Slater could waltz back into the fullback role after Darius Boyd performed the job so well over the past two years.
Boyd’s form has earned him the right to defend his position, and it will be up to Slater to convince coach Kevin Walters he’s a better option at the back than his Maroons mate.
Walters told
NRL 360 last week he would not consider playing Slater on a wing. That leaves him fairly limited with the veteran No.1.
Boyd spent most of his Origin career on the wing and he could move back there to allow Slater to return to fullback.
Walters also
told The Australian this week he’s not averse to the idea of playing Boyd at centre, replacing the injured Greg Inglis.
“I’ve not spoken about any of this with Darius but I’d imagine he would be able to handle the position,” Walters said.
“He’s a very talented footballer and can play most positions and can play either side of the field as he’s shown while at fullback.
“We hope Billy comes back to somewhere near where he was. If he gets back to that then he’s going to be hard to leave out I would have thought.
“I haven’t pencilled in Billy or Darius at fullback yet. We’ll make the call when we have to.”
Walters pointed out he also has the likes of Cameron Munster, Valentine Holmes, and Will Chambers to consider, while Justin O’Neill is an incumbent.
Meantime, Queensland and rugby league legend Darren Lockyer has urged his former teammate Slater to ignore any chat about representative football for the time being.
Slater only returned from a lengthy injury lay-off last week and has played only a handful of games in the past two years.
“Personally, I believe Billy has the capacity to play again in the code’s toughest arena. But right now, it’s too premature to be discussing Slater in an Origin context,”
Lockyer wrote for The Courier Mail.
“My advice to Billy would be to ignore the conversations and speculation around him playing State of Origin.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/sta...d/news-story/9f2aa12019713b4fbd6c7ed67ca442a9
