Among many anticipated match-ups in Saturday's NRL preliminary final between NZ Warriors and Brisbane Broncos, the battle between front rowers Payne Haas and Addin Fonu-Blake stands out as perhaps the most intriguing.
In 2023, both Haas and Fonua-Blake stand undisputed as the two best props in the NRL.
Haas, 23, has been a revelation for the Broncos and New South Wales, and is expected to contend for the NRL's Dally M medal with Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson later this year.
On offence, Haas has run for 3973 metres, and averages 187 per game, while making 592 tackles in 21 games.
While a different type of front rower, Fonua-Blake's numbers make for just as good a reading.
Admittedly, the 27-year-old has played four more games, and has made more tackles (694), more metres (4318) not to mention outscoring Haas nine tries to one.
In fact, when the NRL's Rugby League Players Association dream team of 2023 was named earlier this week, Haas and Fonua-Blake shared the honours as the two chosen props.
And with both sides evenly matched, coach Andrew Webster agrees the work of the men up front will go a long way to determining who emerges from the rubble at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
"I think there's two good forward packs going at it," said Warriors coach Andrew Webster. "I think that's exciting for the game, everyone loves the big boys having a crack at each other.
"But it'll all be in good spirits, and the spirit of the game. That's what everyone wants to see."
On Thursday, the Warriors were greeted by fans and media on their arrival to Brisbane.
All season, the Kiwi side have experienced a wave of support on both sides of the Tasman.
Last Saturday, the Warriors played in front of a packed Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, with more than 26,000 fans spurring them to victory over Newcastle Knights.
And while Suncorp Stadium's capacity of 52,500 is more than twice the size of Mt Smart, Webster isn't worried about the idea of playing against a crowd wanting to see the Warriors go down.
"Wherever we go in Australia – we played Parra [Parramatta Eels] in Parra – and we were getting a Warriors chant. That's unbelievable.
"Wherever we go we've seen crazy support. I think they're proud of the boys, proud of the way they're playing.
"I think winning games of football helps, but the support we've had everywhere, all round the NRL, if we're not their favourite team, we're their second favourite team."
Victory on Saturday will send either the Warriors or Broncos into the NRL Grand Final, where they'll meet the winner of the first preliminary final between Melbourne Storm and two-time defending premiers Penrith Panthers.
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