NRL: Hunted Beast remains a fearsome opponent

Manu Vatuvei, the 2010 Warriors Player of the Year, believes the extra attention he receives from opponents is beneficial for the team. Photo / Getty Images

Manu Vatuvei may not be hitting the heights of last season but he remains a key player for the Warriors.

The big wing is much more of a target for opposition defences but that additional attention is creating opportunities for team-mates.

Vatuvei is also learning to deal with being a marked man, and that process will continue when the Warriors play the Rabbitohs in Sydney at 4pm today.

The Beast, as he is known, reminds you of a bull elephant momentarily separated from the herd with a pride of lions leaping to seize their bullocking prey.

But if Vatuvei is lowered early, a quick play-of-the-ball can create space for the halves to work their play-making magic, with the likes of Feleti Mateo ultimately reaping the rewards.

Vatuvei has had a miserable, injury-plagued season by his standards as the 2010 Warriors Player of the Year.

The 25-year-old suffered ligament damage to his right knee in the first round against Parramatta and blistering to his heels in his rehabilitation meant his attacking play has sometimes appeared static. There have also been moments when the left edge has been left critically exposed for opposition tries.

Statistically, however, there are few significant differences.

Vatuvei's average metres are down from 12th on the table of NRL wings last year with 121.1m per match compared to 101.6m (36th) this year. He made slightly more average tackle breaks last year (4.3 vs 2.8) and has broken the line less often - but his error rate is down (1.2 per game vs 1.6 last year).

The most glaring difference is in tries scored - just five tries in 10 matches, compared with 20 (third overall) in 19 matches during 2010.

Vatuvei is aware he has become a victim of his success.

"It's pretty tough but good for the team because it attracts blokes to me. The best way of dealing with it is to get a quick play-the-ball. I can tell people target me now, trying to get more players to stop me. I don't have a lot of variety on my carries so I try to change my running angle to help."

Coach Ivan Cleary remains a staunch backer in the wake of criticism about Vatuvei's impact. At last week's media conference after the win over Canterbury, it resulted in a droll Cleary one-liner: "Well, perhaps you go and have a word with him" in response to a query about Vatuvei's struggle to return to his game-breaking best.

Cleary knows his charge's talismanic value.

"He's lifted the bar of expectation and that's a good thing. I'm happy with him. He came into this year in his best shape ever, then got a big injury. The spin-off is that the injury affects his preparation but he's still a huge part of what we do. Playing without him so long forced us to come up with other ways of coping.

"It's hard to put a value on him; the boys love having him there and when you see the opposition hanging off him, it's obvious they know his value as well."

Former Kiwis wing and captain Richie Barnett says Vatuvei's benefit is still felt when bringing the ball out of trouble from within the Warriors 20m line.

"Manu's become the sacrificial lamb. There's no question he hasn't been as striking but you have to factor in he's got all sorts of defenders hanging off him, stopping his go-forward. That in turn provides more joy for others working off him.

"They could probably use him even more on the short side off someone else running out of dummy half."

Former Kiwis and Warriors coach Frank Endacott says critics need to show patience with Vatuvei because he is still the best the Warriors have got for his position. "Just look at the respect from the opposition trying to close him down. He's a major offensive weapon. You can't expect him to score every game with that sort of pressure but he helps out the forwards enormously. "