Win it for Qld, and for Billy
BILLY Slater is Queensland’s captain next Wednesday night, but not their motivation.
Next Wednesday will be the 31st and last time Slater dons the Maroons jersey, after declaring ahead of the series that his time was done in representative football.
The 35- year- old was yesterday confirmed as skipper for Game Three, replacing the injured Greg Inglis and becoming the 14th Maroons skipper.
But coach Kevin Walters said the team would not be going into the match with a focus on winning it for Slater.
“There’s a bigger picture,” he said. “It’s about doing it for Queensland. Sending Billy out on a win would be a real positive for the side … but we need to get better.
“Looking forward to next year too we need to try and get a win up in this year’s series to kick us off.”
Slater has only been captain once before in his professional career, when he led the Storm in Round 11 while Cameron Smith was suspended.
Walters said Slater’s excitement at being told he was captain was evident. He said while the team are not playing to win the game for Slater, they did owe him their very best effort.
“It’s his last Origin and for him to lead them out onto Suncorp … he was obviously very excited,” Walters said.
“Billy’s a winner. He’s won so many times at this level and it’s a really special moment for Billy captaining his state and at Suncorp Stadium as well in his last game for Queensland.”