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Glenn Stewart's ball-playing skills make him a menace to the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Manly are tough enough at the best of times but they will be super-motivated after Bill Harrigan's shocking decision on Monday night.

Harrigan's decision as video referee to award Mark Gasnier a try for the Dragons against Manly was mind-blowing. Anyone watching the game on TV could see straight away Gasnier had dropped the ball and yet Harrigan somehow awarded the try.

Decisions like that change games. That one really sank Manly. So they will not only be desperate, they will be angry. That makes them incredibly dangerous in what is a critical match for both teams.

The Warriors and Manly have both been going along okay but they really need to step it up if they want to be a threat in the finals.

Manly have been all over the place at times this season but recently they have been looking more like the Manly of old.

Their forward pack is their major strength. Glenn Stewart is deadly on the right hand side. He is one of the best ball-playing forwards around, so the Warriors will need to watch him closely.

You wouldn't say the Warriors have been getting anyone excited but they are getting the job done. They've certainly got a bit of room to improve.

Every win they have posted has given them a little bit more confidence, which is a real positive. The question is: when do they turn it up a notch?

This is a game where they need to.

Lately they've been playing a very conservative game based on a lot of dummy-half running and a very tight defence. Earlier this season they were quite expansive, so we know they've got those offloads in them. But what we've seen recently has been quite a change. The focus has been more on defence. Fair enough - after last year and some early games this season it did need a lot of work.

And the conservative approach has been paying dividends. But there is still a lot of attacking ability in the side, they just haven't shown it. If they want to really do something this season they will have to rediscover the attacking side of their game. It would be good to see a bit more flair tomorrow night.

The battle between the big T-Rex Tony Williams and Manu Vatuvei should be a classic. It's not often Manu comes up against a bloke who is just as big as he is and, just like last week against Akuila Uate, he'll be fired up to come out on top.

Williams might be as big as Vatuvei but he's not quite the same player. Manly have given him plenty of ball this year and he's proved he can be a deadly finisher close to the line but there are a few holes in his game that a lot of big men possess. He does go missing a bit, and the Dragons showed last week that when you kick in behind him he is slow to react.

But just like Vatuvei, Williams will be fired up to win his personal duel, so it should be an unreal clash.

Manly will also be after big games from Kiwis Kieran Foran and Steve Matai. Matai has been in great form recently, while Foran's ability to run that left edge attack will mean the Warriors' right hand side is under plenty of pressure.

That's where Brent Tate is stationed and he is well capable of doing the job in defence.

This game will tell us plenty about what we can expect from these teams in the finals - if they get there.