‘That’s a nice moment’: Billy Slater’s changeroom act with wife says it all

All eyes were on Queensland coach Billy Slater after a fiery build-up to Origin Game 2, and a touching moment in the sheds said it all.

Billy Slater looked like a very relieved man as Queensland hung on to win a thrilling State of Origin Game 2 and force a series decider.

The Maroons defeated NSW 26-24, withstanding a ferocious second half charge onslaught in Perth as the Blues threatened to pull off the greatest comeback in Origin history after trailing 26-6 at halftime.

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NSW scored four tries to none in the second half and you could almost hear Slater exhale a sigh of relief as time ran out for the Blues to score a matchwinner.

“I think Billy’s expression summed it up pretty well at the end there, he’d be disappointed with the second half,” Darren Lockyer said on Nine.

“I think we (Queensland) were guilty of looking at the scoreboard once we came back out after half time, we just lost our intensity and we stopped playing footy.”

The Queensland coach’s back-and-forth with Aaron Woods this week nearly overshadowed the game after the NSW forward called Slater a “grub” and Slater hit back at Woods.

Slater later apologised for bringing up the death of ex-Queensland coach Paul Green in response, which he said was “not appropriate”.

“Yesterday I wrongly made the link between Paul Green’s death and the stress and pressures of coaching, which wasn’t accurate,” he said.

But Queensland’s performance, especially in the first half, proved the war of words didn’t derail their preparation.

Slater’s job may well have been in danger had Queensland lost Game 2 and a second series in a row, which would not have gone down well north of the border.

The 42-year-old cut a relieved figure in the sheds post-game, sharing a hug with his wife Nicole after a tense build-up that would have taken its toll.

Slater leapt up from his chair to greet his wife and they shared a lengthy embrace in touching scenes.

Nine’s James Bracey said: “There’s a nice moment Billy with wife Nicole, who made the trek over yesterday to be alongside her hubby, who got the job done.

“And of course it's Billy’s birthday, happy birthday Bill. It’s the ultimate present.”

Billy Slater shares a hug with his wife Nicole in the sheds after the game. Photo: Channel 9.

New Queensland captain Cameron Munster was named man of the match and gave an impassioned tribute to his coach post-game.

“With all the pressure and criticism that Billy Slater has been getting, we’re just glad we played for him tonight,” Munster said on Channel 9.

“He deserves everything, he loves Queensland and he loves this group.

“There’s been a lot of speculation in the media, we needed to turn up for our coach tonight and we f***ing did.”

In their post-match press conference, Munster again backed in his coach in an emotional address.

“When you’ve got jabs or blokes in the media having a go at your coach, at the end of the day he is our coach and he has done everything he can and ticked the boxes for us,” Munster said.

“We didn’t perform for him in Game I and he got a lot of slack for it and a lot of stuff in the media and he didn’t deserve it.

“I played with Bill, he is a champion player and a champion coach and I have had a great relationship with him and still do. We are really close mates.

“When you have someone jabbing him like that, it really hurts. It hurts me personally and I never tell him that. I will tell him now, I love him.

“I just want to do the best thing for him and the best thing for Queensland. He’s not doing this for him, he’s doing this for Queensland and he loves Queensland.

“That’s the reason why he’s so passionate and when you have someone like that at the top, you want to play for him. At the end of the day … he’s the reason I want to play.”

Cameron Munster paid tribute to Billy Slater post-game.

Munster said he didn’t need to address the team about the controversy involving Slater and Woods in the lead-up.

“No, I didn’t have to. Rightly so, the boys would have seen it on their phones, media, whatever it was,” Munster said.

“At the end of the day when someone is having a jab at someone from your own backyard you stand up and want to get up and fight.

“We needed to do that tonight, we were backs against the wall, no one gave us a chance.

“When you have guys nitpicking and jabbing at your coach, it’s not him, it’s the players who go out there. He’s given us a great game plan and we didn’t execute in Game I.

“We did it tonight in the first half … but just so proud of us as a group that we had to play for him.”

Slater was momentarily stunned by the comments from his former Storm and Queensland teammate.

“That’s the nicest thing he has ever said to me,” Slater said.

“No, I don’t know. I know the game, I’m in the game, I understand it. Sometimes things get pushed to the boundary but it hasn’t influenced how I look at myself.

“And who I am as a person, I am very comfortable with who I am. I know who I am, I know who these guys are and there’s been a real togetherness about the group.

“That was what I was talking about with the position switches, starting, bench, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is a player of this footy team.

It was a tense build-up to Origin Game 2 for Slater. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

“That’s what Queenslanders do, they do it together, I’m not talking disrespectful to any other states. But when something happens they all pull together and look after each other.

“Whether it’s a flood, or a cyclone, a bushfire, they all pull together and help each other out.”

“We probably put it on ourselves, we didn’t play great footy in the first game and as media journos you have got to create stories,”

“We improved tonight but we have so much more improvement to do because we can’t afford to dish up that stuff we did in the second half.

“If it’s a dry track it could have been a different story … we just can’t keep blowing leads like that.”

Slater will have led Queensland to a third Origin shield from just his fourth season in charge if the Maroons can win the decider in Sydney on July 9.

Originally published as ‘That’s a nice moment’: Billy Slater’s changeroom act with wife says it all