His hero helped Hampton speak up

A LATE night conversation with Billy Slater shaped North Queensland Cowboys utility Ben Hampton’s career and made him the player he is today.

The Mareeba junior who grew up idolising the Storm superstar first met his hero as a 14-year-old in 2006 but was too starstruck to cobble together more than a few words at the time.

Hampton said it wasn’t until late in 2012 before a junior Kangaroos game in Townsville that he mustered up the courage to knock on Slater’s hotel room door. “I played mostly in the halves as a junior but the day before the game the coach told me someone had been injured and he was playing me at fullback,” he said.

“I hadn’t done too much at fullback and went to Billy’s room in Townsville and he ran me through a few things.

“He gave me a few pointers and that was the first time that we worked together.

“I was unfamiliar with the role but when I did fill in there in 2013 while he was out he was more than helpful.”

Having spent considerable stints as the Cowboys’ custodian in 2018, Hampton said he still draws upon the information he acquired from one of the all-time greats.

“When I play today, I still remember the conversation we had all those years ago.

“It’s funny because I was thinking about this the other day and playing fullback at the start of the year, I was watching tape of him again to see what he was doing.

“I think he changed the way fullbacks play from the traditional way because he’s up in the defensive line and always attacking the footy.

But the biggest thing was being loud and direct.

“When you go to a football game you can hear Bill the whole time. That’s one of the things he told me and it stuck.”