Steve Deane: It's time for the beast in Manu Vatuvei to really show its claws

Manu Vatuvei of the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

Will the real Manu Vatuvei please stand up. Your team needs you.

A lovely bloke off the field, Vatuvei has been just a bit too cuddly on it.

The man dubbed the Beast has been distinctly unbeastly; more giant panda than raging bull. Opponents have been hugging him and putting him on the ground all too easily lately.

Coach Ivan Cleary believes Vatuvei is being judged harshly this season. Absolutely. At his peak Vatuvei is the most destructive winger in the world. That is the standard to which he must be judged. He is the Warriors' marquee player, their match-winner, their talisman.

He's not just another garden variety NRL winger. At least he wasn't.

Last season Vatuvei was the Warriors' biggest metre producer with 121 a game. This season his average of 90.9m makes him the 44th most effective winger in the NRL. Yes, that's 44th.

Part of the problem is his workrate. Last year Vatuvei carried the ball 12.6 times a game. That number has dropped to 10.

Yes, he has been injured. Playing in the NRL is a tough way to make a living with a body in peak condition. Big Manu has been gutsing it out and playing through pain, but it's almost as if the ridiculous spear he received from Etu Uaisele's head in round one did as much damage to his aura as his knee. Vatuvei used to be feared.

Faced with the 19-year-old Vatuvei thundering at him in a test match in London during the 2005 Tri-Nations, Great Britain winger Brian Carney was terrified. A gritty Irishman with a Gaelic football background, Carney wasn't the type to shirk tackles. Until he faced Vatuvei. Plenty since have viewed discretion as the better part of valour with 112kg of Tongan muscle bearing down on them.

Vatuvei is not alone in failing to unleash his inner beast this season. Precious little fury has been on display across the board as the team slumped to three straight defeats.

Now Vatuvei says his dicky knees are no longer bothering him, his agonising blisters have just about healed and his confidence is still high. It's time, then, for the club's best player to lead the way.

However cuddly they may look, there's a reason pandas are kept behind bars. If riled, they will happily tear a person limb from limb. It's time for the Beast to show his claws.