NRL: Manly plan bomb raid for Vatuvei

Manu Vatuvei. Photo / Getty Images

Manly captain Jamie Lyon is warning Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei to expect a barrage of bombs to come his way in Sunday's NRL grand final.

Vatuvei, affectionately known at 'The Beast', can be devastating in attack, but has struggled under the high ball, as he showed against Brisbane in the opening round of the finals, when he endured a torrid evening at Suncorp Stadium.

Manly halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran both possess excellent kicking games, and Lyon believes the Kiwi winger will come under fire from the Sea Eagles.

"With the kickers we've got, we'll kick up a high ball, Cherry-Evans has put some great bombs up recently that are really hard to defend, and Kieran Foran has a great kicking game as well,'' Lyon said on Monday.

"We won't do anything different to what we normally do, it has worked well for us this season.''

Lyon admits he was surprised but not shocked to see the Warriors beat Melbourne at AAMI Park on Saturday, and said the unpredictability of Ivan Cleary's talented side makes them a force to be reckoned with.

"They have players out there who can score a try at any time,'' he said.

''(Feliti) Mateo has been great, there's Krisnan Inu, The Beast out there on the wing, so they are going to test us defensively.''

Lyon will have the unenviable task of trying to stop Vatuvei wreaking havoc on the wing, and although he knows he will be in for a difficult evening at ANZ Stadium, he is not worried about the prospect of facing the New Zealand international.

"I'll just jump in and hold on, he is that big and strong,'' he said.

"You need a couple of players to stop him, he is big, powerful and strong, but I have played against him a couple of times and know what to expect.

"But we've got Tony Williams as well and he is pretty hard to stop too.

"That is good for the crowd, they love to watch that kind of stuff.''

- AAP