Ah yes, one bloke gets into a scuffle with a few wannabes, probably trying to incite the situation, and one bloke can’t even be bothered to go to training the next day after a boozing session.

I can see the parallels.

How do you know that Billy Slater was the small guy, were you there?

Personally if I was an Aussie supporter, I wouldn't be over the moon to learn players are out to the early hours drinking. However if there is no drinking ban, no curfew and no charge, its story over. I'm taking it from this thread that the first two surprising (for me anyway) facts are correct.

Considering how many representative trophies he's won if he was English I'd say he could do what he liked.

Gareth hock and the rest have won f' all in an England or GB shirt

Was the aggressor a Midget?
Slater is not big in anyone's imagination.
He is 5ft 10 inches
195Lbs

There are hundreds of Irish males residing in Greater Manchester.

So the chances of it having been an Irish male are not nonexistent.

On the other hand it could have been an Englishman, or even a German, with Irish sympathies. I am not going to be categorical on this because I was not there (I had another engagement). But it is worth noting that Australia showed no mercy to the Irish in the game at Thormond Park. And the Irish, or those with Irish sympathies, residing in Manchester, would not have been exactly chuffed with the result.

Seems the aussie coach as no control over his players,out boozing in the early hours of a world cup

Lets hope they continue getting popped up before every match

Hahaha WELL SAID

Maybe, maybe not, but what we can be sure of is that it wasn't a French male....if it had have been, he would have assaulted Slater with his white flag!

I met several of the Aussie squad in Manchester Walkabout the night before the Aus 2nd-string played Wales in the 2011 Four Nations.

A certain legendary Aussie captain could barely walk or speak and was sent back to the hotel in a cab, a certain man-mountain of a player who took Westwood's head off was enthusiastically sampling the local female talent at the bar (he also set a new record of the punch machine), and a certain ex-Saints halfback now coaching with Samoa was in attendance, as well as others.

The Aussies always make a bee-line for the Manchester nightlife when over here, and always end up in Walkabout. They're not shy of the booze.

I think drinking during a tournament of this standing is incredibly unprofessional.

Go out and celebrate after winning it.

They don't have to take it seriously till after the quarters.

Depends if you drink 10 pints or just a couple of beers and enjoy the evening relaxing having soft drinks, it is possible you know, some people do actually have the ability to not get sh/t faced

Has anyone actually seen the footage yet? They have shown it on the news here. Looks pretty much like what they have been saying. You can see him get punched first. Obviously we don't know what happened before that though.

I understand what some people are saying about these nights out, but where has been said that he was blind drunk? I'm not saying I necessarily agree with these players going out like this but you can understand why. After a long season you are then away from your family for 7-8 weeks on the other side of the world. Are you suppose to not have any nights out?

Yeah I've seen it mate. Police have offered Slater the chance to press charges.

Oh come on.... This is a group of male rugby players they won't be out drinking shandy. Physically alcohol stays in the soft tissues for a while and it hinders recovery. And of courrse they also get into 'situations'.

If this was an England player everyone would be outraged.

Slater get hit by a mug that thinks he is pushing in line and he is at fault, have a look at the video.

What was your point again?

If he wasn't out on the town he wouldn't be in that situation. End of.

Like I said if an England player had done the same everyone would be wringing their hands and saying what a disgrace it was they were out drinking and how they had let down their team and country.

For some reason this is acceptable behaviour in the middle of a tournament because he is an Australian?

I am sure a professional athlete should be able to refrain from such activities until the tournament is over.

The incident is on Youtube from an Aussie news channel. "CCTV footage shows Slater attack"

fair play to slater for admitting he wasn't 100 percent not at fault and basically saying he shouldn't of allowed him self to be in that position. Criminally he has done nothing wrong but as a role model and a hero to many he has owned up and said it wasn't right.

Some would go a hell of a lot further than they have with that attitude.

Cracking punch

Good punch but there was no need for it. The other guy looks hammered and wasn't exactly attacking him.

Looking at the video, it is hard to see why the police bothered to get involved in this. Slap from one guy, with a punch in retaliation.

Slater over-reacts in my opinion and should have walked away, but if you do slap/push someone in the face outside a club you have to expect a smack back, so no sympathy for the other guy.

There was a woman behind the other guy that he knocks over into the road as he falls back - so it could have been a hell of a lot worse for Slater.

I agree... it was hardly 'affray' either in my opinion... more like common assault. I've seen my local cops ignore far worse than this.

Billy Slater was 100% justified in his reaction to an unprovoked assault. He had been gently remonstrating with the offender about getting through the line, and the vicious hooligan responded by smacking Billy in the face. Billy's reaction showed that you don't attack a nice young Australian gentleman in this way and expect to get off scot free. Billy Slater's punch was pointed and decisive. One is left wondering though whether the cut near Billy Slater's eye was caused by this hooligan's assault, and was therefore inches away from causing serious damage to Billy Slater's eye.

Billy Slater has chosen not to press charges, but Manchester police are holding the 40 year old offender (no word yet whether he is Irish or just an Irish sympathiser). The Manchester police need to interrogate fully, and look into the background of the 40 year old offender, to see if there is a criminal record in his past.