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SYDNEY - Anthony Watmough has been getting all the raps, but both he and the stats suggest second-row partner Glenn Stewart has been just as important to the Sea Eagles' surge to Sunday's National Rugby League grand final.
Watmough and Stewart have each played 25 games for Manly
this season, but the similarities don't end there.
NRL statistics have Watmough with the third most hit-ups this year, while Stewart places fifth.
Stewart is seventh in the number of offloads with Watmough ninth.
They're even built almost identically, with 181cm Watmough one centimetre taller than his partner, while Stewart is just two kilograms heavier at 97kg.
But it's perhaps their differences that have Manly's champion back-rower Steve Menzies claiming they could become one of the great Sea Eagles pairings.
That is, Watmough scores the tries - 12 this year to Stewart's three - while Stewart makes the tackles and is ranked eighth in the NRL.
"I think they're different types of players," Menzies said.
"Choccy's (Watmough's) very robust and just a powerful runner ... and Glenn Stewart's just a worker, he's got a few skills, he can pop a pass but he just does his 18 or 19 hit-ups a game and he just keeps tackling.
"So they've both got their pros and cons. Another couple of seasons, a few more grand finals and I think they could be one of the great back-rows of Manly."
Watmough, who has been in scintillating form and is tipped for a Test call-up on Monday regardless of the result against Melbourne at Telstra Stadium, is happy to deflect the praise Stewart's way.
"He's really recognised for what he does among the boys and ... he's one of our senior players, he's really led from the front this year," he said.
"In the next couple of years I dare say he'll be pushing for some higher rep honours.
"He's such a skillful player and he gets in there and does a lot of the dirty work.
"He's an awesome ball-player, I think he's definitely heads above me in that department. He's got some awesome footwork too.
"His work ethic's enormous, he can get in there and do 20 hit-ups a game, he can do 40 tackles."
Watmough said the "underrated" tag sat comfortably with the Manly pack.
"We don't have the superstars but we've got some hard workers in there and Beaver (Menzies) coming off the bench just adds a whole new dimension to our back-row," he said.
"So we've sort of just been the underdogs all year and we're happy to have that tag."
- AAP