NRL: Kimmorley tells Eels to bring it on

Bulldogs halfback Brett Kimmorley is expecting some heavy traffic on Friday night. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - Brett Kimmorley has dared Parramatta's forwards to test out his surgically repaired cheekbone ahead of the Bulldogs playmaker's return in Friday night's National Rugby League preliminary final.

Kimmorley declared his cheekbone as good as it was before he suffered a triple fracture during a sickening head clash with Warriors centre Jerome Ropati three weeks ago.

While claiming cheap shots were a thing of the past, the 32-year-old is prepared for whatever the Eels dish out in what is expected to be a electric environment in front of a 60,000-plus crowd.

"You'd be mad to think they're not going to run some pressure at me and run some football at me," Kimmorley said.

"I think gone are the days where you could put a cheap shot on in the background and think you get away with it.

"If they do try and do anything we'll certainly take the penalty and keep rolling."

One man expected to be piling on the pressure is Eels prop Fuifui Moimoi, who has a history of getting up close and personal with the NSW Origin halfback.

When Kimmorley was with Cronulla last year, Moimoi collected the playmaker with a late and high tackle, but the incident hasn't left the man they call `Noddy' scarred.

"If I recall last year we got a penalty and won the game - I'm quite fine if they want to try and do something outside the rules," Kimmorley said.

"I've got no doubts going into the game that I'm rushing back.

"I got cleared to play last week so the extra week was terrific.

"A couple of metal plates make it pretty strong, so I've got no doubt that strength-wise with the cheekbone everything's fine.

"I've done two good weeks of training, a bit of contact, so I think I'm equally as strong on both sides as what I was four weeks ago.

"I'm like the other 34 players playing on Friday night, we're all at as much risk as each other."

Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore showed similar bravado in brushing off concerns of foul play, but called on the referees to act if the situation got out of hand.

"Given it's a cheekbone injury, if anyone wants to play at his head, I'd expect that the referees would come down very strongly on it," Moore said.

Kimmorley isn't the only one expected to cop a little extra attention on Friday night, with halves rival Daniel Mortimer racing the clock to overcome a hip pointer injury in time for the game.

Mortimer admitted he was unlikely to run until 24 hours before the game, but said he wasn't worried about the possibility of the hip being a target.

"I think that happens anyway, it happens being a half and a smaller player," the 20-year-old said.

"I'll be guarded and I'll have needles in it - I don't think pain will be an issue.

"I'll have other players around me helping me out - if I'm too much of a liability to the team I'll probably have to rule myself out."

Moore said the Bulldogs had not drawn up a specific gameplan to run at the young pivot, though he did offer the Eels a friendly warning about the pitfalls of playing injured players.

The Bulldogs benefited greatly when Newcastle fielded two players who were clearly unfit in their qualifying final, with hooker Isaac De Gois lasting less than two minutes before re-injuring his knee and Zeb Taia a virtual passenger throughout thanks to a shoulder complaint.

"We won't go out with a premeditated plan but certainly if anyone carries injuries into a final, as we saw with Newcastle a couple of weeks ago, they get found out," Moore said.

"Everything gets tested in a final."

- AAP