NRL: Williams and Vatuvei set for giant challenge

Shannan McPherson of the Rabbitohs is palmed off by Tony Williams of the Eagles. Photo / Getty Images

He scored a hat-trick against the Knights to out-thrill The Thriller, and now Manu Vatuvei has another giant challenge on his hands - quite literally.

Manly's Tony Williams - aka T-Rex, Big T or the T-Train - is the next NRL winger in the path of the increasingly rampant Beast.

At just 21 and playing his first full NRL season, Williams is a comparative rookie. But he does have one advantage over the other players who have tried and largely failed to corral Vatuvei this season. Standing 1.92m and weighing 114kg, Williams is the NRL's biggest winger.

Vatuvei normally dwarfs his opponents but tomorrow night he'll be sizing up a fellow monster who is 3cm taller and 2kg heavier.

"It is going to be hard for me to stop another big guy but I like a challenge," Vatuvei said with an ear-to-ear grin.

Having last week tamed Akuila Uate, the NRL's leading try-scorer and most dangerous linebreaker, Vatuvei has good reason to grin.

He has scored 17 tries in just 15 games this season to sit just two off Stacey Jones' club record of 75. He is also an outside chance of overhauling Uate - who has 20 tries in 21 games - to claim the NRL's leading try-scorer honour.

Williams v Vatuvei may be a tasty super-heavyweight clash, but Vatuvei won't be out to make an early impression on his opposite with a king hit.

"Nah. Just play my game. I don't need to worry too much about what he does," is Vatuvei's laidback approach.

Vatuvei might not be worried about it, but what Williams does is often extremely effective. He may lack Vatuvei's explosiveness and aerial prowess but close to the line he is every bit as deadly, as a strike-rate of 23 tries in 33 games attests.

If Williams is anything like as elusive on the field as he is off it, Vatuvei will have his hands full. Repeated calls to Manly found Williams either heading into video sessions, in the gym or in the pool.

He did, however, take time out from his arduous routine to answer a few questions for The Manly Daily.

"It's probably the biggest challenge for me this year," he told his local newspaper. "I'm just going to treat it like another game, [Vatuvei's] just another player. He did look pretty good on the weekend with a hat-trick. I'm just going to have to match that and limit his opportunities."

Like Vatuvei, Williams is of Tongan descent. But there many of the similarities end. While Vatuvei is a gentle giant type with a ready grin and an unblemished reputation off the field, Williams appears to live perilously close to the dark side.

This season he was caught drink driving, and last week as he was preparing to face the Dragons a police raid on his flat resulted in the arrest of his brother and another flatmate.

Just as they did when he was caught driving in West Sydney with a breath alcohol of more than twice the legal limit, Manly have stood by their winger. Media manager Peter Peters pointed out "no man is his brother's keeper". Even so, Williams appears to be treading a dangerous line.

Tomorrow night the danger will come in the form of a fired-up Vatuvei, the man on whose shoulders rests a decent chunk of the Warriors' hopes for a strong run into the finals.

"It is not so much the man-on-man with Williams, it is more how Manu plays," coach Ivan Cleary said. "If he plays well it gives us a great leg up as a team. He starts our sets well and he finishes them well. Having said that, if Tony Williams plays well it probably gives their team a great platform as well."

THE BEAST
* Age: 24
* Height: 1.89m
* Weight: 112kg
* Games: 109
* Tries: 75
* Strike rate: 1 try every 1.45 games
* Average metres: 121
* Average linebreaks: 0.93
* Average tackle breaks: 4.13

T-REX
* Age: 21
* Height: 1.92m
* Weight: 114kg
* Games: 33
* Tries: 23
* Strike rate: 1 try every 1.43 games
* Average metres: 101.5
* Average linebreaks: 0.66
* Average tackle breaks: 5