In a revealing cover story for the September issue of Inside Sport magazine (on sale now), the Melbourne Storm fullback offers fascinating insights into everything from comeback nerves, his first try back from two horrific season-ending injuries, and the camaraderie he’ll miss when he finally calls time on his magnificent rugby league career.

In our latest issue, the 34-year-old Slater - who has also just penned an autobiography (Penguin Random House) with the help of respected sportswriter Richard Hinds on that said brilliant career – is quizzed about exactly how he and his fellow superstar team-mates Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk go about winning football games.

“There’s no doubt we have structures and set plays to work off,” he tells Inside Sport of his always-developing combination with his fellow future Immortals. “The first thing we try to do in a match is build pressure; try and put the opposition under as much as possible.

In the latest edition of Inside Sport magazine, Billy Slater calls fullback “the most free position you can play on the field”. (Photo by Getty Images)

“If we can tire them out by doing that, we can put on a few little plays we come up with – whether during the week or whether we’ve been doing them for ten years – to try and take advantage of a tired person or try to manipulate a defence.

“There’s definitely a lot of preparation that goes into it, but when you’re out on the field, because we’ve played so much football together, it’s nearly one word or one call and the three of us know exactly what is going on.

“We know what play we want and where we’re headed. I suppose that’s the beauty in playing with a couple of guys in key positons for a long period of time. We’ve enjoyed a lot of good moments together.”

Catch our eight-page feature story on Billy Slater in the current edition of Inside Sport magazine, on sale now.