Hearing:
Slater:
"I prepare pretty thoroughly in all of my games," Slater said.
"I try and understand patterns in attack. I look for individuals and what foot they step off and what hand they carry the ball.
"I knew that he likes to back himself and go for the corner post.
"At the time I realised that Sosaia was 10 metres away from the corner post, I felt that I was a little bit further away from the corner post than he was.
"I know I have to get there and my intention is to make a ball and all tackle to get my body between the ball and try line.
"When he plants that left foot his intention changes from going directly to the corner post to going directly at me. My shoulders and my feet are heading directly to that corner post. He changes and this puts me in a vulnerable position.
"By him veering back towards me the contact has happened a metre or two metres before I anticipated.
"He's raised his right elbow so I've protected myself with my left side of the body but I've turned my head to avoid his elbow. If I'm not going 33kmh I'm going somewhere near it and I have two metres to make a decision.
"You can see the motion of my running is natural and it's not until now (close to contact) that I have to protect myself slightly with my left shoulder.
"His right shoulder is flush up on my pec and makes contact with my jaw. I felt my jaw flush up against his right shoulder.
"The reason for the speed I was travelling wasn't to create force in the collision, it was to affect a tackle."
"The whole time my intention was to make a tackle," Slater said.
"It happens earlier than I expected to do but I'm still attempting to wrap my right arm.
"Even with my left arm is trying to wrap underneath. I was still trying to get my body in a position to get between the ball and the try line.
"I've got a duty to make a tackle, the duty of care is to myself and player Feki.
"To ensure I don't make a high tackle is a duty to Feki. I feel the contact that was made was unavoidable once he veered back in.
"I think the decisions I made ensured the safest possible contact was made."
La Surdo (NRL Counsel):
"That's what you intended to do but that's not what happened," La Surdo said.
"What you intended to do and what you ended up doing are two different things.
"There was no attempt to wrap both arms was there?"
Slater responds: "I disagree with that."
La Surdo, while looking at slow motion footage of Slater's arms during the Feki tackle, says: "Your left forearm and hand comes up under Feki's right arm. Very difficult to tell but it doesn't appear to me that's an action of a wrap or attempt to wrap."
Slater: "I disagree with that."
"The right arm had to go somewhere and that was the most natural position for the arm to be given he was travelling at such speed," La Surdo said.
"There was an inevitability there was going to be contact. Whether it was going to be a lawful tackle or unlawful tackle … he had an option."
Nick Ghabar (Storm Counsel):
"What I'm putting to you – this is a situation where a player did not make a conscious decision to use his shoulder," Ghabar said.
"The initial contact was on his left pec. It didn't include his left shoulder. He told you the contact was with the left pec.
"I have no doubt that what sent Feki three or four metres over the sideline was the hips colliding.
"This is not a traditional, if there is a type of thing, shoulder charge.
"This is not a traditional shoulder charge where players are running directly at each other and players have set themselves. You need to pay specific attention to the angles provided to you.
"The rule only requires an attempt, the rule does not require a successful attempt"
Ghabar is now breaking the moments leading up to the tackle frame-by-frame.
"Player Feki is carrying the ball with both hands then puts the ball in his left hand. Player Feki's eyes and head has turned at this point to look directly at Slater and moves towards him. A collision is now imminent," Ghabar said.