Slater implied Green had taken his own life in 2022 as a result of the pressures of coaching and public criticism, which prompted a strong backlash on Wednesday morning.

Green’s family insisted the 49-year-old suffered from CTE.

Just hours before Queensland’s attempt to save the Origin series against NSW at Optus Stadium, Slater called a press conference to apologise for the mention of 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,” Slater said.

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

“Paul had CTE, which is a different disease to what I was referring to. Once again, I’m deeply and genuinely sorry.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, Slater said in response to the Wood’s “grub” barb: “I get the attention in our game. I get that our games creates attention, but there’s a responsibility with that attention.

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

“You don’t know what people are going through. 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 about someone. There’s your answer.”

Woods himself hit back at Slater on Triple M on Wednesday morning, suggesting the reference to Green, who took his own life in 2022, was “completely unnecessary”.

“I [made] those comments I last Tuesday, so that was a week ago,” Woods said.

“I stand by them. It’s part of something I said in the lead-up to this game. [Slater] has had seven days to reply. He’s taken his time. He’s been very well thought out. He’s been very measured in what he’s had to say.

“A lot of his comments I agree with. You’ve got to have an opinion, whether it’s good or bad. It’s a hard position he is in at the moment.

“You’ve got to take out 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 is under a lot of pressure.

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“But one particular comment he did make, I just thought Billy went a bit over the boundary, and I thought it was completely unnecessary for the situation. I don’t really care about Queensland.”

Beau Ryan, a former Wests Tigers teammate of Woods, and colleague of Woods on Triple M, said: “I don’t know if ‘grub’ means something different in Queensland … this has festered, it’s been blown out of proportion, and it’s the only thing people are talking about before the game, which isn’t right”.

Blues firebrand Spencer Leniu was called a ‘grub’ on the back page of The Courier Mail on the eve of game one.

Meanwhile, NSW Blues’ assistant coach Matt King said of his former Melbourne Storm teammate: “I have a very strong relationship with Billy Slater. Billy’s character has never come into question for me, he’s a good man, I respect Billy, and I know his family really well.”

When asked how he would have reacted to being called a ‘grub’, King said: “I have four females at home – I have a wife and three daughters – so I get called a lot worse.”

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