KEY POINTS:
Awestruck when he roomed with Ruben Wiki on the New Zealand Warriors final road trip of the 2005 National Rugby League (NRL) campaign, Sonny Fai is feeling more at home at the club these days.
The strapping second rower-turned-centre has finally become one of the big movers on the playing roster nearly three years after he narrowly missed making his NRL debut.
Fai, then an impressionable teenager, went to Brookvale Oval as the 18th man for the Warriors' season-ending match with Manly - an indication he figured prominently in the club's future plans.
However, Fai, 20, had to wait until the Warrior's second round assignment with Parramatta in March to finally crack first grade.
Having bided his time in the Bartercard Cup, the former Junior Kiwi thought head coach Ivan Cleary was joking when he got the nod to play the Eels.
But since then Fai has established himself as one of the code's most promising rookies, an athletic ball player blessed with some attributes of Sonny Bill Williams - whom he confronts when the Warriors and the Bulldogs meet in Sydney on Saturday night.
Blooded in the second row, Fai has now gravitated to the centres alongside Kangaroos and Queensland State of Origin rep Brent Tate - despite not having played there since the under-13s.
The round 19 clash at ANZ Stadium with the 15th-placed Bulldogs represents Fai's third game at left centre, as he continues to keep Jerome Ropati on the bench.
His versatility has clearly impressed Tate's brother-in-law, club captain Steve Price.
"Sonny's been given some different challenges - he's playing in the centres now and he's really adapted to that well. To have that size, speed and strength out there is a real bonus."
While Fai's height (1.92-metres) and bulk (109kg) undeniably add a backline presence, Price also nominated maturity as a key to his making the grade this season.
"It can be difficult for young guys when they come in to first grade. When they come us against someone they idolise or look up to they can think `Wow I'm actually playing against this guy' and be a bit overawed.
"Sonny's got over that pretty quickly.
"You see some of the tries Sonny's scored this year, he's backing himself which is what we want him to do.
"I'm sure there's a lot of guys he used to watch and idolise that are quite fearful of him when he's in full stride."
Fai admitted has had his doubts when scanning the opposition team sheet, though a valuable support network is in place.
"It's been pretty tough coming up against guys I look up to, guys I like see playing like Sonny (Williams) and Petero Civoniceva - the big fellas, the stars of the game."
Tate has helped ease his nerves before, during and after games.
"He's had a big impact on me coming from tests and Origin. A young boy like me getting advice from him .... I couldn't ask for more."
And at the other end of the experience spectrum it is comforting to have fellow-newcomers Ben Matulino, Malo Solomona and Aiden Kirk sharing the same challenges.
Fai still can appear overwhelmed in the opposition shed after the final whistle, though he blames his mates.
"Sometimes before the game I get a text from my mates asking me to get an autograph from blah blah.
"I'll go up to one of the stars and go `can I grab your autograph' and he's like looking at you in a funny way. I make sure I say it's not for me."
- NZPA
