KEY POINTS:
It's fitting that after 26 gruelling rounds, tonight's NRL preliminary final should come down to an all-or-nothing knockout contest between pace and power.
Starting favourites Manly will bring their trademark fast and furious football to the stadium, hoping to run the Warriors off their feet. In return, the
New Zealand side promises to unleash all its physicality on a Sea Eagles side which is just one game short of consecutive grand final appearances.
The two teams will go into tonight's match with vastly differing mindsets. Manly will be seeking atonement for last year's limp losing grand final performance against the Melbourne Storm.
The Warriors want to keep riding the crest of a 10- from-12 match-winning wave to propel them into a grand final berth which looked unlikely, if not downright impossible, in the middle of the season.
It's a mouth-watering prospect after the last three sensational weeks of football from Ivan Cleary's side which saw the Eels, Storm and Roosters all succumb to a Kiwi tsunami.
Not too many people would have predicted that the Warriors would still be alive this deep into the play-offs, let alone being genuine contenders for the title. But as a bloke who has had the privilege of being around both clubs, I'm not surprised at the success of either side.
There's an extra dimension in this game for me. Both the Sea Eagles' Des Hasler and the Warriors' Ivan Cleary played for me during my time at Manly. And two more different blokes you couldn't find.
Dessie was the perpetual-motion man - on and off the field. As fit as any player I coached, he was a fantastically gifted athlete, whose 287 first-grade games, 12 tests and 13 Origin matches attested to his durability and tenacity. Ivan was (and still is) the opposite - laid back, reserved and not likely to concoct a sentence when a word will do.
He notched 186 first-grade games, 53 of them for the Warriors. His style on the footy field reflected this attitude - no fuss, no fanfare, do the hard work and get the job done.
Ivan strikes me as the ultimate players' coach. Measured and not likely to do his scone. It's a fallacy that when it comes to media, he's a Wayne Bennett clone. My reading is that outside his obligations to the NRL, the Warriors coach doesn't feel the need to be in the media. He has clearly defined the lines between time for club and time for family.
His players have thrived under his even temper and reluctance to panic. It's a great attitude to have from the boss when you're in the trenches and pinned down by what is not always enemy fire.
Both Cleary (a real estate degree) and Hasler (a former schoolteacher) have plenty between the ears and think deeply about the game. However, I think one of their strengths is that neither over-coaches - unlike some in the NRL. But it's exciting to anticipate watching each roll out a game plan aimed at exploiting their opponents' perceived soft spots.
It's hard to predict where these might be. The Warriors have succeeded in bouncing back from a 52-6 thrashing by Manly earlier in the season to rebuild and strengthen their defensive structure, which is now one of the most impregnable in the competition.
Most significantly, Cleary has managed to instil a new resilience in his team away from home, and this has paid big dividends.
This, together with an increasingly high-energy game from their little men (especially the supercharged Ian Henderson, who is surely the buy of the season) has enabled them to build pressure on sides and then crack them open.
The return of Wade McKinnon is hard on Lance Hohaia, who must have gone close to the Warriors' Player of the Year for service way beyond the call of duty in McKinnon's absence, but it is the right decision. McKinnon is a proven game breaker, and Hohaia will get plenty of opportunities off the bench.
And a piece of advice for McKinnon: whatever's in your mouth - be it spit or spiteful words - keep it there. Breathe through your nose. Use your talent and enthusiasm to repay the other 16 blokes who have ensured you are still playing footy in September.
Manly will come out fast, and will keep playing fast to get to the Warriors' edges. Steve Matai has become their most lethal weapon at centre and may well find himself shifted to the Eagles' right side defence to close down the Warriors' deadly combination of Jerome Ropati and Manu Vatuvei.
Halfback Matt Orford has one of the best kicking games in the NRL. But therein lies one of the Sea Eagles' discernible weakness - beyond Orford their kicking game is weak.
Until late this week, I couldn't see Manly being beaten. NRL footie is no place for sentiment. But my heart tells me this could be our year. The Warriors' year. I can't wait.
