Cameron Smith reveals his harrowing phone call with Billy Slater after the footy legend’s brother-in-law drowned while saving his nine-year-old daughter’s life
NRL great Cameron Smith has opened up about his heartbreaking phone call with former teammate Billy Slater after the iconic fullback suffered a family tragedy last weekend.
Slater’s brother-in-law Ryan Craig drowned while saving her daughter’s life when she fell from their boat into a Queensland dam on Saturday.
The father-of-four – who is married to Slater’s older sister Sheena – died at Kinchant Dam near Mackay on Saturday when he and his nine-year-old daughter fell from their boat and he went into the water to rescue her some time after 6pm.
Smith (left) has described the heartbreaking phone call he had with his great mate Billy Slater (right) after the ex-back’s brother-in-law died a hero on Saturday
The two Melbourne Storm legends formed an incredibly close bond when they dominated the NRL during their playing careers, and remain close today
The nine-year-old was later pulled safely from the dam, but Craig’s body was not found until Monday morning.
Speaking on his SEN radio show on Wednesday, Smith revealed the tragedy happened where Craig, his partner and children regularly ‘went on family outings’.
‘I called Billy and spoke to him and he just said, ‘Look, it’s an absolutely tragic (set of) circumstances given the situation’.
“It’s a place they spend a lot of time with the children when they grow up. They have four children. They have four little girls.
‘They were out on the water and just a series of events really led to Ryan and his oldest daughter falling into the water and unfortunately some weather blew up and it blew the boat away from where they had fallen into the water and the boat could not be started.
“It was truly a heroic effort by Ryan to stay afloat as long as he did to save his daughter.
Slater (pictured with wife Nicole) has so far refused to comment on the news that his brother-in-law drowned while performing a heroic act in a Queensland dam
The Craig family are ‘devastated’ by their loss, Queensland Police Inspector Glenn Cameron said (pictured, Ryan Craig, his wife Sheena – Billy Slater’s sister – and their children)
Pictured left to right: Nicole Slater, Billy Slater, Ryan Craig and Slater’s sister Sheena
“He eventually ran out of energy. Some jet skiers came along a little later and I don’t know how – it’s just a miracle – the little girl was still afloat.’
Queensland Police have not released the full circumstances of what happened, but Inspector Glenn Cameron said preliminary investigations have revealed “the actions of the man who is now deceased saved his young daughter’s life”.
He added that the Craig family are ‘devastated’ by the incident, with Sheena, 42, and their three other children reaching the coast safely at around 12.30pm on Saturday.
Craig, 40, who came from North Eton just west of Mackay, went missing after he and his daughter fell from a wrecked boat.
As the search for Craig was carried out, Senior Sergeant Trevor Robson said: ‘Obviously (the family) are very upset about what has happened and we can only imagine the trauma they are going through.
“You wouldn’t wish that on your worst enemy.”
Footy legend’s relative Ryan Craig (pictured with his family) is being credited with saving his nine-year-old daughter’s life
Pictured: Lifeboats search for Craig after he went missing on Saturday at Kinchant Dam, about 35km west of the Queensland town of Mackay
An RACQ rescue helicopter was involved in the search for the father-of-four (pictured)
She was later pulled from the water, but water police and specialist divers launched a desperate search for her father, including seven boats armed with sonar equipment, but found no trace until his body was found on Monday.
Inspector Cameron said the girl was brought to safety by a jet ski rider and was taken to Mackay Base Hospital as a precaution, according to Seven News.
Cameron added that the question of whether Craig and his daughter were wearing life jackets will be part of the police investigation.
“Our thoughts go out to the family who have lost a loved one in these tragic circumstances,” he said.
‘We never want to see anything like this happen.’
Queensland Police will now prepare a report for the coroner.
Slater grew up with his older sister in Innisfail, about 90km south of Cairns in Queensland.
At the time of writing, none of them had commented on the tragedy.
In his autobiography, Slater (pictured with wife Nicole at the 2018 Dally M Medal ceremony) recalled growing up with sister Sheena in Innisfail, Queensland
The 40-year-old footballer played 323 games for the Melbourne Storm during a career that saw him reach the absolute pinnacle of rugby league.
In addition to his 31 games for Queensland and 30 games for Australia, Slater featured in seven grand finals, won the Dally M Medal as the NRL’s best player in 2011 and won the Golden Boot award as the best player in the world in 2008.
Since retiring in 2018, he has found success as a coach for the Queensland State of Origin side and as a commentator for Channel Nine.
In his 2017 autobiography, he recalled his younger days with Sheena, saying he and his sister ‘learned to appreciate what we got’ as the family struggled to make ends meet – but added they ‘never felt say poor’.