Life couldn’t get much better for Billy Slater in 2004.
Which made his stunning fall barely 12 months later even harder to stomach.
At just 20, Slater scored one of the great State of Origin tries in only his second game for Queensland.
Pandemonium ensued. For days.
Complete strangers wanted to shake his hand. Or buy him a beer.
His hometown Innisfail in the state’s far north went nuts.
He received a special celebration when he returned days after his Origin heroics.
Suddenly Slater was Queensland’s favourite son.
“It was ridiculous, on and off the field. After that try things just went crazy,” Slater told Wide World of Sports.
“We (NRL club Melbourne) had the bye that week (after Origin) so I went back to Innisfail, there was a ticker-tape parade and all that sort of stuff.
“And I had my 21st birthday two days (after Origin). I was just riding this wave of Queensland support.
“I understood what it (Origin) meant to the Queensland public but to be the one who was in the centre of that attention, was quite crazy.”
But what goes up must come down.
And the next year Slater’s Origin fall was spectacular.
The 2005 series started well enough.
He had finally got his hands on the Maroons No.1 jersey after his debut series on the wing.
But by game three he was dropped.
Worse was to come.
Suspension and injury resulted in Slater missing the 2006 and 2007 Origin series.
The rise and fall were rapid.
“It was a really disappointing time for me individually,” he said. “I had played a year-and-a-half of first grade and then cracked Origin, then played five games for Queensland and then I get dropped. “I went through a bit of a tough time after that. “In 2006 I was suspended and in 2007 I was injured, so through that period I got a kick up the backside, a reality check. “If you take things for granted and get it taken away from you, you just want it more and more. “I had to bide my time and work really hard to get back in that arena. Slater was finally welcomed back to the Queensland fold in 2008 and became a key member during their stunning run of 11 series wins in 12 years, including eight straight. He never took the Maroons jersey for granted again. Queensland coach Mal Meninga ensured it. “Mal would take the whole team out to rural Queensland (for fan days) and it would remind you of how much the Queensland Maroons team meant to the general public,” Slater said. “People would drive for thousands of kilometres just to get a photo with Johnathan Thurston or an autograph from Cameron Smith. “That really reminded you of who you were playing for and what we were actually doing when we go out on the field.”