how credible is that??? solid source?
MELBOURNE Storm fullback Billy Slater is battling "niggles'' but club officials have denied his troublesome knee is affecting his performance.
Plenty of NRL watchers raised their eyebrows on Sunday night when the star custodian cut short a chase of runaway Penrith winger Dave Simmons after about 20 metres.
Simmons, having intercepted a Slater pass in the 11th minute , rushed 80m to score and had his run towards the posts cut-off by Storm halfback Cooper Cronk who chased, at speed, all the way.
For all his efforts, Slater had a quiet night against Penrith after being constantly shut down by defenders who refused him a linebreak for only the second time this year.
Slater has gone on record saying his knee, which he injured in last year's State of Origin, would need management for the rest of his career but he hoped it wouldn't hinder him.
He also has spent time in a moonboot this year to alleviate problems with his foot, which he carried through much of last season.
Melbourne football manager Frank Ponissi conceded Slater wasn't at 100 per cent, but said neither were plenty of players and it couldn't be used as an excuse for the loss to the Panthers, Storm's second in a row.
"Bill, like any other player, like a lot of players, are always carrying little niggly things. But it's no different to anything he carried last year or any other year or different to what other players do,'' Ponissi said.
"We are always going to have players not 100 per cent, but they'd never take the field if they couldn't perform at a high level. I wouldn't be too concerned about Bill.''
The flu also made it into the Storm camp last week but again Ponissi said that wasn't a factor in the loss.
"There was a little bit of that. Every club from now until early August are going to have periods where they are not all well,'' he said.
Among the few positives from the loss was that Storm got through without suffering any more injuries.
And after completing 30 minutes in the NSW Cup on Saturday, prop Siosaia Vave will come in to calculations for next Monday night's showdown with Manly.
