Tom Trbojevic has hailed Billy Slater as rugby league's greatest ever fullback but has left no room for sentiment as he seeks to spoil the Queensland's great's State of Origin send-off.
As Slater prepares for his 31st and final Origin game, Trbojevic paid tribute to the man he considers the benchmark for all other No.1s.
Trbojevic has played on the right wing in his debut Origin series but established himself as one of the NRL's premier fullbacks with Manly.
He closely shadowed Slater in Australian camp during last year's World Cup hoping to soak up as much knowledge as possible.
"You saw what he did coming into the game in game two, he added so much to that side, he organises so well," Trbojevic said.
"He's the best fullback to play the game. He's going to add a lot in his last Origin game. He's going to come out hell for leather but we're really confident we've got a team here that can put in a good performance."
Despite Melbourne sharing one of the competition's most bitter rivalries with the Sea Eagles dating back to their clashes in the 2007 and 2008 grand finals, Manly junior Trbojevic said he grew up with nothing but respect for Slater.
"I wouldn't say I hated him, I always loved watching him and Brett Stewart play," Trbojevic said.
"As a fullback you recognise the greats of our game and he's one of them.
"I definitely didn't hate him - but a few results didn't go our way because of him."
After being shoehorned onto the wing - a position he hasn't played at club level since 2016 - Trbojevic admits he was successfully targeted by Queensland in game two.
His opposite number Valentine Holmes ran for 197 metres, made three linebreaks, three tackle busts, scored one try and would have had another in the opening stages had Trbojevic not got a hand to it.
"They threw the ball around a lot more in that game two and a lot of it did come down our side," Trbojevic said.
"So I'll certainly be expecting a bit more up at Suncorp,
"I've been exposed a couple of times so I will work on that this week and try to fix that up."
