By BILL HANSBY
Villa the Gorilla wants to grab the attention of the NSW State of Origin selectors next year but will have a job on his hands cementing a position "first and foremost" at the Warriors.
The statement says something about the new-look Warriors - the club where Richard Villasanti made such an impact at prop that he was selected for the Kangaroos.
The Warriors will possibly have one of the best front rows in the NRL next year with the signing of former Bulldogs' captain Steve Price and Kiwis' captain Ruben Wiki - not to mention existing players Sione Faumuina, Iafeta Palea'aesina, Evarn Tuimavave and Karl Te Mata, who also play at prop.
Villasanti says there will be competition for positions among all the forwards which will lift the team's game. Price and Wiki are likely to be the mainstays in the frontrow, where he is likely to be told to play.
"What can I say about Ruben? You only need to say his name and it inspires a team. He will be a cornerstone of the Warriors."
Playing in the State of Origin has been a goal for the Canberra-born Villasanti, even though he has already achieved the higher honour of playing for the Kangaroos. Family connections also made him eligible for the Kiwi and Tongan sides.
He wants to prove that he is good enough for Origin football and the best way to do that is to be a stand-out performer for the Warriors.
"Villa the Gorilla" asserted himself as one of the best props in the game after a great season in 2003. And Warriors' fans still have fond memories of him smashing Australian legend Shane Webcke in one of his trademark monster tackles.
But 2004 is a year Villasanti, like most of the Warriors, would rather forget.
The Warriors finished second to last and Villasanti says this is something he wants to rectify by training hard in the off-season.
The team hasn't played for more than seven weeks and Villasanti is itching to get back on the field - even though their first training session this week was a gut-buster.
"We trained for an hour-and-a-half, but it felt more like two-and-a-half hours."
He didn't see anyone vomit as a consequence, "but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens," he says.
Villasanti says fitness was lacking during the 2004 season. "There were some close games that we lost because we ran out of steam." The team has been running on mountain tracks, stairs, decks and doing 100m and 200m sprints. "My legs hurt," he says.
The 2003 Kangaroo misses being a part of a test series and says he didn't catch the eye of the selectors this year because of the Warriors' poor season - a reflection of the players' form.
If he had elected to play for the Kiwis last year, there is a possibility he would have been selected for their current Tri Nations campaign, especially when Penrith forwards Tony Puleatua and Joe Galuvao were ruled out through injury.
But he has no regrets "because I made my choice. But I've watched both tests and it would have been great to have been involved."
He opted for Kangaroo selection because he wanted to play State of Origin. It also allowed him to play against his mates at the Warriors. "When you play your mates, you don't want them to get one over you."
- THE HERALD ON SUNDAY
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