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Reconditioned Tuqiri a monster challenge for Turner
Daniel Lane - SMH
March 13, 2011
IF TOMORROW night's Canterbury-Wests Tigers match were a boxing match, or even a UFC cage fight, the face-off between Bulldogs winger Steve Turner and Lote Tuqiri would be banned because of their 20-kilogram weight disparity.
Turner is 84kg while Tuqiri strains the scales at 104kg. The Bulldogs winger also spots 14 centimetres in height to an opponent who, after finishing 2010 in the Kangaroos squad that contested the Four Nations, boasts an imposing sixpack to show that he's benefited from the rigours of the off-season training he missed last year while playing rugby union in England.
The dual international spent the past summer being hammered by the club's conditioning staff members Steve Folkes and Sean Burns, and he said his natural assets of sheer speed and power had improved immensely.
''I don't know how fast I am until I get on the pitch,'' Tuqiri said. ''We haven't done too much testing for speed, but physically I feel fine and mentally I feel refreshed. I feel confident in my ability. I always have.''
The Tuqiri-Turner duel might appear a mismatch on paper, but Turner - who represented NSW in Origin in 2008 and has played for Melbourne and Penrith - said no winger could allow size to be an issue. He was not having nightmares of being squashed by a dreadlocked monster dressed in a black, white and gold.
''Lote is quite an athlete and he's been around the game for quite a number of years,'' said Turner, the proud father of one-year-old daughter Scarlett. ''Lote has almost 20kg on me, but that's something I've had to deal with in the past when I've matched up with guys like Manu Vatuvei [112kg] at the Warriors and Cooper Vuna [98kg] when he was with the Knights.
''There's a lot of blokes who are quite bigger than me, but all I can do is put my body in front of them and do the best I can.''
Tuqiri said the two words to describe himself, from an opponent's perspective, would be ''competitive'' and ''hard''. Yet, while he regarded Turner highly, the Fiji-born flier admitted he tried not to think too much about any of his opponents.
''I look at what I have to do,'' Tuqiri said. ''That's not to say I don't have a look at them … [Turner] might do things in defence I'll take a look at. Obviously what he does in attack interests me. As the year goes on I'll do a bit more to see how [my opponents] go about their game. I worry about focusing on myself first.
''As for the build-up to a game like Canterbury, I've always been relaxed. I don't think about the game too much. I switch on mentally when I get to the ground. Once I put my boots on, that's when it is 'game on'.''
Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said he had enormous faith in his winger's ability to contain the Lote Express, describing Turner as a player with the character to match his commitment to the team.
''He's one of those blokes every team needs,'' Moore said. ''Not only has he played at Origin and in grand finals, but he's a professional who prepares himself for games well and prepares for training. He's an intelligent bloke, Steve.
''He understands the game well and can talk well to [other players] with a genuine respect, so when he talks, they do listen."
Daniel Lane - SMH
March 13, 2011
IF TOMORROW night's Canterbury-Wests Tigers match were a boxing match, or even a UFC cage fight, the face-off between Bulldogs winger Steve Turner and Lote Tuqiri would be banned because of their 20-kilogram weight disparity.
Turner is 84kg while Tuqiri strains the scales at 104kg. The Bulldogs winger also spots 14 centimetres in height to an opponent who, after finishing 2010 in the Kangaroos squad that contested the Four Nations, boasts an imposing sixpack to show that he's benefited from the rigours of the off-season training he missed last year while playing rugby union in England.
The dual international spent the past summer being hammered by the club's conditioning staff members Steve Folkes and Sean Burns, and he said his natural assets of sheer speed and power had improved immensely.
''I don't know how fast I am until I get on the pitch,'' Tuqiri said. ''We haven't done too much testing for speed, but physically I feel fine and mentally I feel refreshed. I feel confident in my ability. I always have.''
The Tuqiri-Turner duel might appear a mismatch on paper, but Turner - who represented NSW in Origin in 2008 and has played for Melbourne and Penrith - said no winger could allow size to be an issue. He was not having nightmares of being squashed by a dreadlocked monster dressed in a black, white and gold.
''Lote is quite an athlete and he's been around the game for quite a number of years,'' said Turner, the proud father of one-year-old daughter Scarlett. ''Lote has almost 20kg on me, but that's something I've had to deal with in the past when I've matched up with guys like Manu Vatuvei [112kg] at the Warriors and Cooper Vuna [98kg] when he was with the Knights.
''There's a lot of blokes who are quite bigger than me, but all I can do is put my body in front of them and do the best I can.''
Tuqiri said the two words to describe himself, from an opponent's perspective, would be ''competitive'' and ''hard''. Yet, while he regarded Turner highly, the Fiji-born flier admitted he tried not to think too much about any of his opponents.
''I look at what I have to do,'' Tuqiri said. ''That's not to say I don't have a look at them … [Turner] might do things in defence I'll take a look at. Obviously what he does in attack interests me. As the year goes on I'll do a bit more to see how [my opponents] go about their game. I worry about focusing on myself first.
''As for the build-up to a game like Canterbury, I've always been relaxed. I don't think about the game too much. I switch on mentally when I get to the ground. Once I put my boots on, that's when it is 'game on'.''
Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said he had enormous faith in his winger's ability to contain the Lote Express, describing Turner as a player with the character to match his commitment to the team.
''He's one of those blokes every team needs,'' Moore said. ''Not only has he played at Origin and in grand finals, but he's a professional who prepares himself for games well and prepares for training. He's an intelligent bloke, Steve.
''He understands the game well and can talk well to [other players] with a genuine respect, so when he talks, they do listen."
