BILLY Slater left no stone unturned in his mission to beat a shoulder charge suspension and play the NRL grand final.

But it was no different to the preparation he puts into each and every week.

Part of Slater’s argument to the NRL judiciary panel, made up of Mal Cochrane, Bob Lindner and Sean Garlick, was that he had studied every try Sosaia Feki has scored this season in the lead up to the preliminary final against Cronulla.

It gave us an incredible insight into the due diligence Slater gives his opponents and the respect he has for his teammates.

Slater has long been regarded as one of the most professional athletes in the country, but the revelation he had studied Feki’s habits and knew where the Storm winger was going to try and score highlighted it even further.

It all formed part of his defence on Tuesday night.

“Billy even went as far as to say that he’s meticulous in his preparation for games. He watched every single try Sosaia Feki had scored in the NRL this season in the lead-up to the game,” said Fox League’s chief reporter James Hooper from the hearing.

“Every try Sosaia Feki had scored, he had pinned his ears back and gone for the corner.

“A crucial part of Billy’s defence was that at some point, Feki decided to step off his left foot, change his line and make eye contact and actually change the trajectory of his body and form a collision with Billy.

“Billy was adamant he always had eyes for the corner post and he always had an intention to go flat out and try and execute an arm tackle that was wrapping his arms around Feki.

“Feki’s decision, Billy maintains, is what forced the collision to unfold the way that it did.”

Slater’s professionalism and knowledge for the game has made him one of the best players to grace a rugby league field in history.

But it’s not just his natural gifts that have made him so successful — it’s his effort to educate himself, making him one of the smartest players we’ve seen as well.

Following the hearing, Storm CEO Dave Donaghy posted a photo on Instagram of Slater studying his notes on a private jet to Sydney with Craig Bellamy, Frank Ponissi (Storm football manager) in toe for support.

“As meticulous in his preparation for tonight as he is for games. Was key to the outcome,” Donaghy’s caption read.

Whether the decision to free Slater is correct or not, we’ll get to see the results of that meticulous preparation one more time in Sunday’s grand final.