Maroons sweat on Slater’s ankle injury
THE Maroons have suffered a blow, with coach Kevin Walters revealing Billy Slater’s ankle is “not great” just days before what could be his final State of Origin match.
Slater sent a scare through Camp Maroon yesterday when he went down in the dying stages of an opposed training session on the Gold Coast. The 28- Origin veteran lay on the ground for several minutes as he was attended by Maroons medical staff and eventually walked from the field.
Slater had his right ankle strapped and was driven back to his hotel room in a golf buggy to begin intense treatment so he can run on to Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night for the series decider. “He’s not great I’ve got to say,” Walters said last night. “He’s a bit sore. It’s not ideal but it happened.
“He rolled his ankle last month against Cronulla. He’s re- injured that a little bit more than anything.
“We’re not concerned about him not playing. We think he is going to be all right. He seems to think he will be OK.”
The Maroons will assess Slater this morning before deciding whether they need to draft in an emergency player. Queensland’s fullback stocks are low given Darius Boyd ( broken thumb) and Greg Inglis ( knee) are sidelined while Broncos winger Corey Oates ( infection) could be out for a month.
Slater, 34, is yet to commit to playing on in 2018.