I can tame the beast, says Gardner

It may have been Brisbane’s heat getting to him but England flyer Ade Gardner wants a crack at the player called “The Beast”, Manu Vatuvei.

“I’m looking forward to it,” smiled the 25 year-old St Helens speedster who, if handed the job, would concede almost 20kg to New Zealand’s giant winger.

“He’s a big strong unit. It’s more about putting as much pressure on him as you possibly can.

“You can’t let yourself think too much about his size or what he can do.”

Gardner missed the chance to mark up on the big Kiwi last weekend, a blessing given Vatuvei scored four tries, three of them after half time as New Zealand stormed back from trailing 24-8 to win 36-24.

Gardner is the man most likely to get the call-up from coach Tony Smith for Saturday night’s World Cup semi-final at Suncorp Stadium.

Vatuvei is nicknamed The Beast for a very good reason. He uses his massive 112kg of brawn and muscle to terrorise and torment his rivals.

But rather than be concerned for his safety or feel intimidated, Gardner is talking up his chances of being the man to tame the beast.

Gardner has an insight into what to expect from Vatuvei having came across another monster Kiwi winger, Leslie Vainikolo, a few times in England when the 112kg man mountain nicknamed the Volcano played for the Bradford Bulls in the Super League.

Vatuvei is being hailed the next Vainikolo, a tryscoring freak who notched an astonishing 98 tries in just 71 games for the Bulls between 2003-05.

“I tackled him (Vainikolo) once or twice (in Super League) and I’m looking forward to doing the same to big Manu,” said Gardner before England trained at Brisbane’s Langlands Park today.

The England players got off the team bus and formed a huddle on the field like the one which upset the Kiwis during their traditional pre-game Haka last week.

But Smith said his players weren’t practicing the “Haka Huddle” for Saturday night but paying their respects on Remembrance Day.
Smith felt his players lost their way last weekend when the game was stopped for several minutes as Kiwi centre Steve Matai was placed in a neck brace and carried from the field.

Asked if he thought the Kiwis sparked up when utility Isaac Luke entered the game, Smith said: I don’t know if that was it or it was the big break for the injury”.

“It certainly had a big lulling effect on us and probably sparked them up as much as anything.

“I think they were shaking a bit at that stage.

“While you don’t want injuries and you have to be extremely careful with injuries these days, I think it wasn’t a good time for us because we were definitely on a roll at that stage.

“Games are all about momentum and once you get the momentum we had at that stage you want to keep it going.

“But it turned during that injury break and quite often you can get big swings in momentum.”

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