‘About damn time’: Sanctimonious Slater exposed in stunning truth bomb

Someone call the cops, because Michael Maguire has discharged three rounds of sass in to the facade of Billy Slater’s glass house.

Billy Slater has been called out.

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Someone call the cops, because Michael Maguire has discharged three rounds of sass in to the facade of Billy Slater’s glass house.

The coach’s explosive drive-by on his Maroons rival was as subtle as it was withering, and it has injected Blues fans with a stimuli not felt since Cameron Smith’s retirement.

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And the most jolting aspect of the NSW coach’s broadside?

That it took so long for someone to call out Slater for acting like a pious pork chop.

Responding to the fallout surrounding the Joseph Sua’ali’i send-off in an interview with James Hooper on NRL 360, Maguire delivered sage advice to those critical to “make sure you don’t live in glasshouses.”

Asked was this a reference to Slater’s repeated brushes with the rugby league law over the course of his playing career, Maguire replied “I’ll let you work that one out.”

Maguire may have fluffed his lines in game one, but this barely-cryptic swipe at his counterpart’s holier-than-thou posturing is a thunderous shift of the rook in the Origin mind games.

QLD Maroons head coach Billy Slater has come under fire from NSW Blues head coach Michael Maguire. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Not only did NSW need a rally cry to revamp its tepid attitude, especially from a psycho like Maguire who once vowed to cut off his pinky if Souths didn’t win the 2014 premiership.

But it has roused the state from under Slater’s spell and reminded us that despite appearing too clean-cut and eloquent for the vulgarity of Origin, it’s only because he’s a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing.

Put simply, it’s about damn time Slater was called out after unfurling enough self-righteous carry-on to make a rat spew.

Not only has he weighed-in to the debate around Sua’ali’i’s hit on Reece Walsh by telling anyone who’d listen that he didn’t want to comment on it, he played the cringey “mums and dads” card in classic Queensland butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-XXXX style.

“I honestly don’t like watching it too much, it’s pretty sickening and it’s not good for our game. I can’t imagine too many mums and dads would want to throw their kids in the car and take them and sign them up after watching this sort of stuff” Slater preached.

The Joseph Sua’ali’i hit continues to cause drama. Picture NRL Photos

“I was really disappointed, because I know how hard he [Walsh] prepared for the game and he had great clarity around what his game looked like. He was ready to go after it and that was taken away from him only seven minutes into the contest.

“I haven’t commented on the incident … I don’t think my comments are gonna do the game or any individuals involved in the incident any benefit.”

Nobody is denying Sua’ali’i got the tackle wrong and got what he deserved.

But Slater is pulling our legs by claiming the moral high ground around targeting playmakers, because everyone does it and everyone will always do it, the Queensland sainthood included.

But worse, Slater providing etiquette lessons is like a Tommy Raudonikis YouTube video on proper pinky placement for sipping Earl Grey with viscount associates.

The Queenslander has no right to clutch his pearls on what constitutes sound on-field behaviour considering a rap sheet from his playing days that would stand up in the 80s, not just in rugby league but also any Jean Claude Van Damme film franchise.

Billy Slater kicks David Klemmer of the Bulldogs in the head during the round three NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury Bulldogs on March 21, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Arguably the greatest fullback of all time, Slater revolutionised the way the game was played, and he was pretty handy at footy too.

In addition to cutting opposition defences to shreds, he kicked blokes in the head, lead with the feet in the in-goal, plus shouldercharged and punched-on with wayfaring abandon.

This included booting John Skandalis in 2006, thumping Jason Nightingale in 2008 and shouldercharging Sosaia Feki in 2018, all of which paled in comparison to his magnum opus on David Klemmer.

Under the usual instructions from Craig Bellamy to go for the jugular in a match against the Bulldogs in 2013, Slater took the advice quite literally with a spectacular karate kick that plunged his studs in to David Klemmer’s neck like a lawn aerator.

All this is why his furrowed brow towards NSW is morally bankrupt, and frankly he can take his tut-tutting and shove it where his brainwashed Queensland populace thinks the sun shines from.

Billy Slater shoulder charges Sosaia Feki of the Sharks to stop him from scoring a try in 2018. Pic: FOXSPORTS

Billy Slater faced a grade-five kicking charge and seven games on the sidelines for this incident involving Tigers forward John Skandalis in 2006. Pic Fox Sports.

Yep, we know the Maroons live in a delusional state of self-righteousness.

And yep, any sins committed in the name of advancing their cause are considered beyond reproach - but they’ll never hear this over the cacophony of their banjoes.

Maguire was spot-on with his assertions that Slater needs to cast his mind back before casting the first stone, because everyone targets everyone in rugby league.

Only difference is, some teams execute it effectively, whereas others just put up a midfield bomb and bum rush Kurt Gidley.

- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Originally published as ‘About damn time’: Sanctimonious Slater exposed in stunning truth bomb