Slater’s development at fullback plotted along two main themes: work rate and positional play. Unlike fancy chip and chase movements, these aspects of the sport can’t be self-taught. Midway through Slater’s debut season in first grade back in 2003, Storm coach Craig Bellamy sat the young bloke down for a chat. The topic of conversation was the fullback at the Sydney Roosters.

“Anthony Minichiello was carrying the ball up 20-22 times per game at that stage,” Slater recalls. “My numbers were around ten. Although I’m a different style of fullback to Anthony, Craig didn’t expect me to have those sorts of numbers, he just wanted me to push towards them. He’d just challenge you with those little things during the year. Ultimately, that would make you a better player.”

“You probably need to be an all-round footballer these days to be a top-class fullback,” Slater offers. “It’s a position where firstly you need to be able to run the footy. That’s first and foremost. You need to be a threat when you’re running the football. Secondly you’ve got to nearly have the ball skills of a half and I think probably one of the other most important things is your communication skills have got to be really strong.”

At 178cm and 88kg, Slater is built for speed. Over the seasons, he’s been able to combine this important fullback element with his ball-playing ability and the confidence in his own skillset. Early in his career, he’d spot a defender out of place and press the detonate button and planet rugby league would explode into excitement. He produced that ridiculously good kick-and-chase try in State of Origin 14 years ago, if you can believe that.

He’s still scary-good, but experience means that today he’s more calculating and less chimpanzee-with-a-machine-gun with what he tries on the field. Bellamy painted it perfectly in Slater’s autobiography, released last year by Penguin Books Australia: “There is a scoreboard there that gives you a few clues; he respects the game situation more than he has in the past.”