Warriors dispel big boppers ‘myth’

Adjust your TV sets - the New Zealand Warriors’ size is a “myth”, their captain Steve Price says.

Usually considered one of the toughest physical assignments in the NRL, Price says the eighth-placed Warriors will need to play with more brain than brawn when they take on a bigger Melbourne side at Olympic Park on Sunday.

“If you go through our pack, you’ll find that their pack is a lot bigger than ours,” Price said today. “It’s a myth.

“I’m the heaviest in the whole team, I’m 108kg and then it goes down to 102kg.

“(Melbourne prop) Brett White would be heavier than me, and (Jeff) Lima and these sorts of blokes, they would be a lot heavier than a lot of our guys.”

White weighs in at a hefty 110kg, Lima at 104kg, while Storm interchange forward Antonio Kaufusi a huge 114kg.

Excluding hooker Cameron Smith, the nine forwards minor premiers Melbourne named for their final round clash with South Sydney weighed an average 104.1kg.

Comparatively, the Warriors’ pack comes in at 103.2kg.

“Everyone says we’ve got this big, strong aggressive forward pack when we’re not big,” Price said.

“We’ve got a lot of determination, we’ve got a fair bit of skill, we’ve got guys that are good on their feet, very skillful with the footy and quite strong, they’re powerful sorts of athletes.

“So that’s what we’ve got to work to and we’ve got some big outside backs as well that help out.”

An eighth-placed side has never beaten the minor premiers in week one of the NRL finals, which went to the current format nine years ago.

But the Warriors did down the Storm 8-6 in a round 20 Auckland clash this year and are one of only two teams to have beaten the defending premiers at their Olympic Park “Graveyard” in the past three years.

“That’s the past,” Price said.

“It could give you a little bit of confidence but the team that we played earlier this year in Auckland didn’t have Billy Slater, didn’t have Brett White.

“They probably didn’t play their best footy, we probably played pretty well and we only beat them by two points.

“It was two-and-a-half years ago or something that we beat them in Melbourne so I just think the biggest thing is going in with a quiet confidence.

“No-one’s going to give us a chance and there’s only going to be 17 guys that can make a difference and hopefully those 17 are going to be very well prepared and ready to play the game of their life.”

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