The strongest players within the New Zealand Warriors playing squad have been revealed, and there's a surprise inclusion.
When asked by Fox Sports who he thought lifted the heaviest weights in Warriors gym sessions, team captain Roger Tuivasa-Scheck singled out two 23-year-olds as standouts - though the inclusion of therelatively light-weight Patrick Herbert would shock many onlookers.
"Patrick Herbert and Bunty Afoa, for the middles it's definitely Bunty, he's a beast. He's throwing big weights around."
While Afoa is a 188cm, 11kg front rower for the club - expected to perform highly in strength tests - Herbert is a 181cm, 94kg outside back in a squad where only five players weigh less than him.
"Bunty would bench around 170s [kilograms] or 180s. The funny thing is Patrick would be similar. We call him Mr Uppers because leg days he's not a fan, but with uppers you can just load him up"
Fellow back Chanel Harris-Tavita concurred with Tuivasa-Scheck, hilariously putting the Herbert phenomenon down to an apparent lack of wingspan.
Warriors centre Patrick Herbert. Photo / Photosport
"Patrick Herbert, he's a strong man. I don't know about squats, but I think he benches more than I squat," he also told Fox Sports.
"It would be around 170s or 180s, and he's a centre as well. He's got that little Solomone Kata build, real nuggety. Short arms, he doesn't have to push it as far."
The Warriors are in the midst of pre-season training and will play full trials on February 22 (vs Storm, Palmerston North) and March 1 (vs Tigers, Rotorua). They open their NRL campaign on March 14 in Newcastle.
