The Roar
The Roar

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NRL has become the land of the monsters

Manu Vatuvei was in sensational form against Samoa. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Wayne Drought
Expert
4th June, 2012
8
1756 Reads

Move over Ultimate Fighting Championship. See you later World Wrestling Entertainment. Australia has its own batch of monsters, and they are all in the National Rugby League.

The beautiful thing about the NRL is that anyone has a chance of playing in the big time. You don’t necessarily have to be the biggest and you don’t necessarily have to be the strongest.

But my god, the weekly battles between rugby league’s big men is the ultimate drug for any thirsty Australian sports fan.

The more we move toward family friendly content, the more our game loses its edge. It is the evolution of our great game and the days of legitimate fisticuffs and honest-to-god brutality are over.

Brutality in 2012 has a different definition. It is just as tough and I dare you to stand toe-to-toe with these guys.

It also seems that being a monster in the NRL isn’t enough. In this time, it’s the nickname that makes you. It makes you a household name; a promoters dream. You’re not a monster until you have the nickname.

Manly Sea Eagles backrower Tony “T-Rex” Williams has just signed on to play for the Canterbury Bulldogs on a lucrative deal that will see him leave the Eagles at the end of the season.

Williams stands at 6 foot 4. The same height as UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos. Williams also has the fighter covered by six kilograms.

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I’m not saying Williams could slug it out with Dos Santos. That’s completely stupid. But don’t tell me we need to look past our own shores for our own destroyers.

Williams will join another giant at the Bulldogs in 2013. The newly named “Dogzilla”, Sam Kasiano.

Kasiano’s star isn’t just rising, it’s shooting. At 6 foot 5 and 130 kilograms, who the hell is going to argue with this guy?

Of course there is “The Beast”, New Zealand Warrior Manu Vatuvei, who continues to give nightmares to opposition wingers with his sheer power and speed. Vatuvei isn’t as big as some of the others, but would you stand in front of the 6 foot 2 115 kilogram flyer?

South Sydney Rabbitohs supporters are probably asking where Dave Taylor is? You can hear the “The Coal Train” coming from a mile away. At 6 foot 2 and 125 kilograms, Taylor monsters WWE heavyweight champion CM Punk.

And you cant forget “Big Willie” Mason or Cronulla’s favourite son, Paul “God” Gallen.

Then there is Fui Fui “Car Crash” Moi Moi, so fearsome that WWE executives were scouting the Parramatta juggernaut.

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“Wow, who’s that guy?” WWE Executive Vice President Andrew Whitaker said of Fui to The Telegraph back in 2010.

“He’s massive. Imposing. What’s his name?”

His name is Moi Moi. And there are bigger and badder cats them him getting around the NRL.

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