NRL: Clash of the titans

Manu Vatuvei of the Warriors (right) and Wendell Sailor of the Dragons. Photos / Getty Images

They are heavyweights in every respect and today will clash in a mouthwatering contest.

In the red corner, Wendell 'The Dell' Sailor. In the black, Manu 'The Beast' Vatuvei.

Both will come out swinging and there's bound to be sore bodies afterwards.

Sailor was once the undisputed champion of the world and has landed a few knockout blows in his time, both with his mouth and his footballing skills.

But Vatuvei is the current champion (last year he was named International Winger of the Year) who has taken on and defeated all challengers.

He is quiet off the field but boisterous on it. He amassed an incredible 22 tries in 23 games last year, including 16 in 17 NRL games, and has carried on that strike rate with four in four this season.

It means he now has an incredible 49 in 79 games and needs one more to become only the fourth player in Warriors history behind Stacey Jones (76 in 244 matches), Francis Meli (60 in 110 matches) and Clinton Toopi (57 in 129 matches) to reach a half-century.

While the two competition points are the most important outcome for both, it will be hard to escape the mini-contest between two of the game's big-name players.

That is assuming Dragons coach Wayne Bennett doesn't pull a late swifty and switch Sailor to the other wing so he comes up against the much smaller Denan Kemp.

The comparisons between Sailor and Vatuvei are quite spooky.

There is the obvious age difference - Sailor is 34 and Vatuvei 23 - and titles on their CV (Sailor has four) but they measure up in almost every other respect.

Both are prime pieces of meat listed at 112kg, Sailor is 1cm taller at 1.90m and they have both notched four tries in their last three outings.

Their styles are similar. Both are bullocking wingers who use their size well, are good in the air and are proven tryscorers.

Even their season stats are analogous. Sailor has run for an average of 137m a game this season, Vatuvei 136m, which are the best in the NRL. Sailor makes an average of 15.5 runs a game, Vatuvei 15. They even effect the same number of tackles a game - 3.8.

It's for this reason momentum gathered recently for Sailor to add to his 14 Queensland appearances and earn a State of Origin recall, eight years after he played his last match for The Maroons.

He has been excellent since his return from a two-year drugs ban for cocaine and has been a key figure in the Dragons' form this season that saw them sit third on the table heading into this weekend's eighth round.

Injured Warrior Brent Tate even gave his blessing for Sailor to take over his Australian test jumper.

Sailor missed out, though, on the original Queensland squad of 25 even though his numbers match up well against those selected.

The only way he will earn a callup now is if others are injured or if his form simply demands selection. That starts today against the Warriors.

The Warriors need the win more than the Dragons. They have arrested their mini-slide of three consecutive defeats with a golden-point win over the Roosters and a draw against Melbourne but they have the bye next weekend to coincide with the Anzac test and, psychologically, need to go into that break on a high.

Vatuvei could have a large part to play in that, like he often does.

But that is only if he can get past The Dell first.

Today, 4pm, WIN Stadium:

Dragons ($1.45): Jason Nightingale, Brett Morris, Beau Scott, Matt Cooper, Wendell Sailor, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby (c), Justin Poore, Dean Young, Michael Weyman, Matt Prior, Ben Creagh, Jeremy Smith, Dan Hunt, Neville Costigan, Jarrod Saffy, Mathew Head.

Warriors ($2.65): Wade McKinnon, Denan Kemp, Simon Mannering, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Joel Moon, Stacey Jones, Jesse Royal, Ian Henderson, Steve Price (c), Ben Matulino, Jacob Lillyman, Micheal Luck, Nathan Fien, Russell Packer, Lewis Brown, Patrick Ah Van, Lance Hohaia, Aidan Kirk (two to be omitted)

WENDELL SAILOR:

Nickname: The Dell
Age: 34
Games: 203
Tries: 118

Sailor switched to rugby union in 2001, playing 37 tests for Australia, before he was suspended from all sport for two years after a positive drugs test. He returned to league when that expired last year.By Michael Brown

MANU VATUVEI:

Nickname: The Beast
Age: 23
Games: 79
Tries: 49

Vatuvei made his NRL debut as an 18-year-old. It took him six games to score his first try but he has never gone more than four games without scoring a try since.