NRL: Time for big Ben to charge for Warriors

Ben Matulino. Photo / Getty Images.

He's such a fixture in the Warriors these days that it's hard to recall Ben Matulino ever being dropped. Unless you're Ben Matulino.

"Three times. In 2009," he answers immediately when quizzed on the subject. It's as if the occasions are seared into his brain, and maybe even his soul.

In a season that began with the tragic death of Sonny Fai and quickly unravelled as the much-hyped team tailspun from predicted contenders into 14th place, being dumped was likely only one factor in Matulino falling out of love with the game. But it surely was a factor.

"I could blame it on a lot of things but it was just down to myself."

Matulino recalls days when he seriously questioned whether he was in the right line of work. "We were losing games but I didn't care if we lost or if we won. The club were trying to re-sign me and I was like 'oh nah, I'm not too sure if I want to play any more'.

"Dean Bell just told me to see out your contract and see how you feel. 2010 came and we started winning more games. I think it was just down to us going through a bad patch in 2009, down to losing all the time and getting depressed.

"It was a lot of pressure, especially with the public, no one coming to our games or anything. It was pretty tough."

Now closing in on 100 NRL games and a fixture in the Kiwis, those dark days must seem a long time ago. Matulino's sparkling form is helping offset the loss of injured senior props Jacob Lillyman and Sam Rapira.

Asked to name four players who had stood out in the NRL this season, former Warriors and Eels coach turned commentator and pundit Daniel Anderson opted for Billy Slater, Ben Barba and Daly Cherry-Evans. Oh, and Ben Matulino.

"If the New Zealand Warriors make a serious run at the 2012 NRL Premiership, then this big unit will have to pave the way," Anderson wrote on the NRL website. "Yes, I am a card-carrying member of his fan club, but I love watching a big tough front-rower carry the ball into the teeth of his opposites and emerge after bending the defensive line landing on his stomach."

Anderson isn't the only one to have his eye caught by Matulino. His storming game-high 14-carry, 144m display against the Eels earned the admiration of his team-mates, who rated him the players' player of Monday night's victory.

Having gone from wanting out to "loving it, wouldn't be anywhere else", Matulino credits his turnaround to the faith shown him by Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney - a fellow alumni of the Hutt Valley's Randwick club. Matulino was dropped to the U20s for the final game of the 2009 season, but that didn't stop Kearney picking him for his first Kiwis tour.

"Stephen Kearney showed some faith in me, believed in me. I wanted to repay that, stick around and play the game."

These days Matulino is a vastly more complete player than the big-hitting second rower who used to deal out a dose of the spectacular and then drift out of vision.

"Time has done that," coach Brian McClennan said. "He still has that athleticism but his management of what he is doing on the field is a lot better now and I think that is just experience."

The positional switch to prop has also helped keep him in the game.

"Me and Jakey [Lillyman] hated playing prop," he said. "We used to always say we were still back rowers. I love the position now. I get the ball pretty much when I want it, I don't have to wait for it to come to me. So I don't see myself going back to the back row."

With the Bulldogs boasting a forward rotation that has attracted even more plaudits than Matulino this season, the Warriors face a stern test at Mt Smart tomorrow. Matulino doesn't buy into talk the Warriors are light on experience up front without Rapira - who could return next week - and Lillyman.

Having shipped early points in both matches so far, the Warriors will be targeting a fast start. They will also be aiming for a more solid showing from their edge defence.

"We've got to improve there, the boys on the edge know that," McClennan said.

"I thought for periods there we got it right [against the Eels]. We just haven't quite nailed a defensive rhythm yet."

Matulino, though, is certainly getting it right, just like he did in 2009 when he decided to stick with the game.

Warriors v Bulldogs

Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm tomorrow

Kevin Locke
Bill Tupou
Konrad Hurrell
Krisnan Inu
Manu Vatuvei
James Maloney
Shaun Johnson
Sione Lousi
Nathan Friend
Ben Matulino
Feleti Mateo
S.Mannering (c)
Elijah Taylor

Warriors: Russell Packer, Ukuma Ta'ai, Ben Henry, Lewis Brown, Glen Fisiiahi, Alehana Mara, Sebastine Ikahihifo: three to be omitted.

Ben Barba
Steve Turner
Josh Morris
Jonathan Wright
Bryson Goodwin
Josh Reynolds
Trent Hodkinson
Aiden Tolman
Michael Ennis (c)
Sam Kasiano
Frank Pritchard
Dene Halatau
David Stagg

Bulldogs: James Graham, Greg Eastwood, Corey Payne, Joel Romelo, Martin Taupau: one to be omitted.