I questioned this back in 2008 and I still question it. Snake was the incumbent Kangaroos fullback after his debut in Wellington at the end of 2007. He scored a try on debut (shock horror) and while I haven't actually seen the game, from all reports he didn't make a mistake. So with that in mind, with both in good form in the opening rounds of 2008, why was Snake dumped in favor of Slater for the Centenary Test? I have a sneaking suspicion that it had a bit to do with the amount of Storm players in that team (there were six of them including Slater).
I know he was selected to the Kangaroos 2008 WC team after his sensational performances leading up to our 40-0 win over Melbourne in the GF, and that he then had to pull out with a shoulder injury before the WC started. But am I right in saying that had he not withdrawn from the team, he had been selected as the #1 fullback in preference to Slater?
Since then the only thing keeping him out of the Kangaroos has been his constant leg injuries (which I believe also kept him out of the 2011 Four Nations squad after he was again selected), and admittedly Billy Slater hasn't done much wrong as the Australian FB other than his infamous brain explosion pass to Benji Marshall in the 2008 WC Final.
No doubt the top 3 fullbacks, not only in the NRL but in rugby league in general, are Snake, Louganis (the diver formerly known as Greg Inglis) and Slater. But no matter how much the print media and Nein keep pushing the Slater and Louganis bandwagon.....neither are as important to the Storm or Souff$ as Snake is to Manly.