Slaters real quality is that he has endeared to keep improving himself.
You have to be a real RL afficianado to keep track of this, and there does seem to be a lot of short memories here..
Early in Slater's, you would see him relegated on the wing in SOO by players such as Hunt, Wesser and Bowen, because his defense was so poor. I mean it WAS considerd inferior to Bowen's at one stage. In his first two years his defence was appalling, you'd think he was a RU convert.
He has turned this around considerably, to the point this is not a discussion point.
Likewise he has made himself a rather consistent player, and this is value.
Make no mistake, the last 8 rounds, and the four final hames to get to the GF, of 2009, Hayne played the best any player has ever played for 12 consecutive games. But you can not rely on him to play well.
Slater has pretty much made his reputation on being a class player every game, despite the occasional brain explosion.
Belcher had 3 stand out years in a row, with the rest being Gidley quality, Jack probably had around 5 with the rest being Hornby quality. Mini had 3.5, being cut short by injury. Lockyer had very good years, but had knightmare games, such as his test debut vs NZ. His change to 5/8 has affected his legacy.
But then again, in Inglis's debut year, Slater was moved to centre while Inglis played fullback.
Eadie was not in the same league, nor was anyone between Changa and Jack.
Slater has three major strengths.
i) Consistency
ii) Athleticism
iii) Willingness to improve his game.
These alone make him the best since Changa, and possibly the best of all time,
