BILLY Slater says he has forgiven Sia Soliola for his vicious cheap-shot, but has urged NRL authorities to crack down on acts of foul play that can lead to career-threatening concussions.
As Soliola serves a five-match ban for flooring Slater, the Storm champion broke his silence on the incident to declare there was no lingering bad blood between he and the Raiders hitman.
The rugby league fraternity was outraged when Slater was knocked out off the ball by a sickening Soliola shot in Melbourne’s 20-14 defeat of Canberra a fortnight ago.
Sidelined for a week, Slater showed no ill-effects from the heavy concussion as he terrorised the Cowboys in a scintillating display in Townsville on Friday night.
At a time when two former players, James McManus and Brett Horsnell, are suing the code over head-related injuries, Slater implored every NRL player and official to be mindful of the risks of dangerous tackles.
“I just hope out of this that people in our game have a responsibility and a duty of care to consider the welfare of players,” Slater said.
“It was an incident that was unfortunate for our game.
“Regardless of whether a tackle is high or not, you can injure someone and it becomes even more dangerous when it is late.
“I just think the game has taken a stance and it’s important they make sure people are aware of their actions and the repercussions.
“The game is taking concussions more seriously and looking into the possible effects on the brain which is great.
“To be honest, I never thought about it too much but when you end up at the centre of a head knock like I was, you tend to take notice of the dangers a bit more. There is still a long way to go in terms of knowledge around the issue of concussions, but I hope when players approach (contact) situations, they do it with a little bit of caution.”
Slater revealed he had smoked the peace pipe with Soliola after the Raiders forward contacted him to express his remorse.
“I have no hard feelings towards Sia,” Slater said.
“He has been extremely regretful and has touched base with me quite a few times. We have all done things on the football field that we regret and this is one of his.
“The biggest thing for me is that he got in touch with me personally and made sure I was OK. He rang me several times during last week so I appreciated that.
“Hopefully Sia can move on in a positive way and get on with his footy.”
At the NRL judiciary hearing, Storm medicos claimed Slater couldn’t remember the previous two weeks of his life before the incident, including his starring role in Queensland’s win in the State of Origin decider.
Slater said he suffered memory loss straight after the Soliola tackle, but his recall has since improved and he now remembered Origin III.
He admitted the episode had rocked his wife Nicole, kids and wider family.
“I had some pretty bad memory loss initially when I first came to in the sheds and within an hour everything came back to me,” he said.
“I do remember the Canberra game. There’s been a lot of reports about me not remembering the last two weeks of my life. That’s a bit far-fetched, within an hour of regaining consciousness, I remembered everything.
“I remember the play-the-ball beforehand and next I recall being in the sheds. I was a bit tired for a few days. I could have played last week but the doctor advised me to be cautious and take the week off.
“For me personally, it wasn’t too distressing, but the effect it had on my family was tough. I don’t remember the incident and I didn’t feel anything.
“But my wife and my kids had to sit through watching it and my mum had to see me in that state. To hear how concerned and upset they were, those moments where they didn’t know how bad I was, that hits you pretty hard.
“It was hard missing Cam Smith’s 350th game last week because of our history together, but I’m glad I wasn’t named because I know what I’m like.”
