Gotta love how Taupau is always talking up the battle with the opposing forwards.
Martin Taupau's Kiwis duel with Waerea-Hargreaves to spill into NRL
Michael Chammas
Published: May 6, 2014 - 7:47PM
After taking his spot in the Kiwis team, Martin Taupau predicts Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will come looking for blood and "try and put me on my arse" when they lock horns on Friday night.
Waerea-Hargreaves, who has played 17 Tests for New Zealand, was dropped by coach Stephen Kearney for last Friday night's Test match against Australia, picking the in-form Taupau over the Roosters enforcer.
The Wests Tigers prop believes Waerea-Hargreaves will come out with a point to prove, but isn't shying away from a mouth-watering personal battle against the premiership-winning front-rower.
"I wouldn't mind it," Taupau said of the prospect of a personal duel with Waerea-Hargreaves.
"I am expecting it, because after the game on Friday when I looked at who we were playing this week, I saw it was the Roosters. I know he's going to come looking for me and try and put me on my arse. I'm going to try and not let that happen.
"He's going to come out all guns blazing. I'm pretty disappointed for him missing out on the Test because I believe he's been one of the form front-rowers in the comp. He's going to come out firing just to prove a point that he should have been picked in the Kiwi team."
Fairfax Media understands Waerea-Hargreaves was dropped because of a perceived inability to transfer his club form to the representative arena, with statistics revealing he was the Kiwis' least effective forward in his past three appearances against Australia.
Kearney instead went with a front-row rotation of Taupau, Roosters' Sam Moa and Melbourne's Jesse Bromwich.
Kearney also looked at Ben Matulino, James Gavet and Sam McKendry, but the trio were all made unavailable for the Test match at Allianz Stadium through injury.
While Taupau is under no illusions as to what to expect against Waerea-Hargreaves on Friday night, he admitted he also had plenty to prove in the battle of the Kiwi giants.
"I always try to get it over the big front-rowers just to prove a point," Taupau said.
"To prove to myself that I can do this and I'm not just here to go through the motions. It's not really about how hard you hit the ground, it's about getting back up and doing efforts on efforts."
Taupua played 21 games in four years at the Bulldogs before linking with the Tigers this year, where he has been one of the club's best players over the first eight rounds of the season.
While he tried to stay loyal to the Bulldogs, he conceded he was frustrated by the lack of opportunity under coach Des Hasler.
"The last couple of years at the Bulldogs I played the loyal card," Taupau said.
"I came up through the ranks and I grew up being a supporter, so I re-signed to play the loyal card. Then times were getting frustrating last year so I had to step back and look at the bigger picture. You only play the game for a certain amount of time.
"I played the first seven rounds last year, then when James Graham came back from suspension and Sam Kasiano from injury, I got pushed to the side. I wasn't too happy and I hit rock bottom, fighting my own demons. But the Tigers put a massive opportunity in front of me."
This story was found at:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...greaves-to-spill-into-nrl-20140506-zr5q6.html
