Billy Slater has fronted a snap press conference to issue a public apology for his reference to former Queensland and NRL premiership coach Paul Green, which he says “wasn’t accurate, nor was it appropriate”.

In the past week, Slater has been trading barbs with former NSW forward Aaron Woods, who now hosts a Triple M radio show, after Woods called Slater a “grub”, pointing to the fact he kicked then Wests Tigers prop John Skandalis in a game in 2006.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Billy Slater issues swift apology after Paul Green reference.

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In a dramatic precursor to State of Origin II, Slater questioned former Woods’s right to have a voice in the media in an emotional retort on Tuesday, unleashing on Woods with a rally-like speech.

“When you hold a position in the media or in our game, I feel that’s a privilege. And with that privilege comes a responsibility,” Slater said.

“I sit in that position most weeks and you amplify your voice to millions of people. You’re not talking to your mates in the pub.

“I know Aaron Woods. I actually ran into him three or four weeks ago at a footy game and he didn’t voice that opinion then. He actually brought his son over to introduce him to me.

“When you degrade someone personally in a derogatory manner, you probably don’t deserve one of those privileged positions that we’re all in.”

Slater was then interrupted by an applause from the crowd at Perth’s public press conference, before telling them “I’m not done yet”.

“You don’t know what people are going through,” he continued.

“And although I might be able to handle it, the next person mightn’t be. Maybe our last coach (Green) didn’t.

“I believe the character of a person is judged more on what they say about people and how they treat people, than what an individual says to create attention.”

Green took his own life in 2022, one year after coaching the Maroons in the 2021 series.

A post-mortem found the North Queensland premiership-winning coach had been living with a “severe” and undiagnosed case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which can only be diagnosed posthumously.

Fronting media in a 53-second spoken statement on Wednesday, after which he did not take questions, Slater owned up to the mistake he made by referencing Green.

“Yesterday, I wrongly made the link between Paul Green’s death and the stress and pressures of coaching, which wasn’t accurate, nor was it appropriate,” he said.

“I feel terrible about what I said, and I spoke to Amanda Green this morning and apologised for any hurt that it may have caused her and her family.

“I just want to say this: Paul had CTE — that’s a different disease to what I was referring to.

“Once again, I am deeply and genuinely sorry. Thank you.”

Prior to the press conference, Woods again slammed Slater on his radio show, this time over his reference to Green.

“It’s a hard position he’s in at the moment,” Woods said on Wednesday morning.

“He’s lost game one of the series up in Queensland.

“He’s coming off a losing series which was a decider in Queensland as well. So, he’s under a lot of pressure.

“But one in particular comment that he did make — I just thought Billy went a little bit over the boundary. I just think it was completely unnecessary for the situation.”

Fellow former NRL champion Beau Ryan, who co-hosts the show with Woods, agreed it went too far.

“It took a dark turn yesterday. From where I’m standing, Billy was waving the white flag,” he said.

“It looked like he’s had a week to reply, you’ve called him a grub — I don’t know if grub means something different in Queensland — he was a grubby player and all that.

“It’s festered out of proportion and it’s been the only thing people have been talking about before the game, which isn’t right.”

Newcastle and NSW great Matty Johns was equally mystified by Slater’s comments.

“Whether it’s in banter, theatre, whatever it is — if you do say something about someone, and it is personal, then you hand them immediately a right of reply,” Johns told SEN.

“Billy’s used that right of reply and he’s certainly taken a long handle to it. I have no doubt that Woodsy’s building up the theatre.

“When he said, first of all, ‘Billy’s a grub’, I sort of thought it’s a bit of fun, and then I thought this is sort of starting to get into the personal area.

“In his heart of hearts, Woodsy just meant it purely as banter but it hasn’t been taken that way and when you say something like that, then you run the risk of that.”

- With AAP

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