Queensland Maroons coach has revealed he is proud of his side, while also remaining adamant that his late changes for Game 3 of this year's State of Origin series were not a sign of panic.
Slater made several late changes ahead of the decider, with Reuben Cotter shifting to the second row, Felise Kaufusi and Moeaki Fotuaika starting at prop, and Harry Grant starting at hooker. That all saw Ben Hunt, Jeremiah Nanai and Lindsay Collins drop to the bench.
There were some suggestions pre-game that it was 'panic' from Slater to make such a move, but he rebuffed that claim, instead suggesting the changes were always going to happen, and had been decided ten days ago at the start of camp for Game 3.
"If it was panic, it was panic ten days earlier than the game. We knew exactly where we were going with our team. I'd probably still make those changes now, that's just the decision we made. We thought that was going to be our best start, and it doesn't change anything. I'm still proud of the team, the way they fought, courageously defended their tryline. They did a great job," Slater said during his post-match press conference.
"You can look at all these things in hindsight and go we should have done that, or shouldn't have done that, but I'm not looking at that right now."
The coach, who has suffered his first State of Origin series loss, has made several questionable calls throughout the campaign, including leaving David Fifita out.
While he wasn't quizzed on that during his press conference, he said he was proud of his side during Wednesday night's loss for giving themselves a chance.
"I feel like the team was defeated, but it certainly didn't feel like a loss. I was disappointed after Melbourne, but I don't feel disappointed right now. I feel immensely proud of this playing group and what they had to endure out there. They kept turning up, but just couldn't get it done tonight," Slater said.
"I think it ended up being 100 more tackles that we had to do. In the first half, it just felt like we were on our line a whole heap and things just weren't going our way. It didn't feel like we got the bounce of the ball or the rub of the green. That tells in the end with fatigue, but I couldn't be more proud of this team."
Slater added that just because his side didn't score a try, it wasn't a cause for alarm and that he thought his side had a chance of coming back all the way to the end of the game.
"No. I'm not disappointed in the playing group [despite not scoring a try]. I'm immensely proud in their efforts, I think the state of Queensland would be super proud of their footy team, and the players should be proud of themselves tonight, so no I don't feel like that [disappointed]," Slater said.
"I would have preferred to hold the Shield up, and have a different feeling in the dressing room, but like I said, I was disappointed after Melbourne. I just didn't feel we didn't give ourselves a chance. We gave ourselves a chance tonight, but they are a good footy team, they have done a lot right. It's not good losing, but you can't win everything. I've been around this game too long to understand you can't win everything. To stand up and do their state proud, that's what I'm proud of.
"I still thought we were a chance with five minutes to go, three minutes to go. We have a footy team there. I never thought we were gone until probably the last set when New South Wales got the ball. There was just a period in the game where fatigue got hold of us and they scored a couple of tries. They are a good footy team, they hung in there too."
Captain Daly Cherry-Evans said the Maroons couldn't have given any more effort to the cause.
"I don't think we could have given any more effort. The effort was there all night. The effort was clear to see in the first half. We did our best tonight and it wasn't good enough. Right now that's hard to understand because you give it everything, but there has to be a loser and unfortunately, it's us this year," Cherry Evans said.
The loss for Queensland is just the sixth time in 23 Origin deciders they have fallen short, and their first loss in an Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium since 2005.
