Warriors prop Ben Matulino is playing the best footy of his career in 2015, and when Matulino is in form, the New Zealand side feed off it.
Averaging 17 carries and 156 metres per game, he is third in the NRL for metres run, behind his Kiwi comrades Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Jesse Bromwich.
In his eighth season with the Warriors, ‘Big Ben’ has shown not only to the Warriors but also to the Kiwi selectors he is consistent and deserving of his spot in both teams. Matulino has played 20 Tests for the Kiwis, and last year he became the first ever Holden Cup graduate to play 150 NRL games.
Another feature of his game are his offloads, leading the competition for them with an average of 2.5 a game. This affords the team more opportunities to score tries from dummy half.
Based on recent performances, he will be one of the Warriors’ key players if the are to make the eight. Next year, with the addition of new recruits Issac Luke and Tuivasa-Sheck, he will set the team up in promising positions with his quick play the balls and incredible speed.
But Matulino is not the future, he is now, and the Warriors will look to build around his structure.
Coming off his best performance of the year, against the Gold Coast last Saturday where he ran for 222 metres off 21 carries, he will play his 167th game against a bruising Canberra front row, which like any other team he will look to dominate at Mt Smart Stadium this weekend.
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