Andrew Slack: Fear 'Rodzilla's' speed, ball skill, defensive attack

I fully accept that in my schooldays I was complete rubbish at physics, but even the most scientific of brains must wonder how somebody weighing around 130kg can possibly be described as light on his feet.

For my own well-being, I'm reluctant to call Rodney Blake a pudding, but watching him play rugby, the proof is there to see.

He has the balance of a three-quarter but the shape of, well, a "Rodzilla".

If you asked Tony Woodcock what characteristic he'd most fear from an opposition prop, I'm not inclined to think being light on his feet would rate tops.

Nevertheless, tonight's clash of the Wallaby tighthead and the All Black loosehead will arguably be the most fascinating of the one-on-ones.

Forget Dan Carter versus Stephen Larkham, or Matt Giteau and Aaron Mauger. It may well be the battle of numbers 1 and 3 which proves the most decisive.

Generally, this is not a contest which would have the entire stadium on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the first scrum, but tonight is different.

In a matter of months, Blake has become a cult figure in Australian sport - a rare occurrence for a rugby front row forward.

The lingering concern for Wallaby supporters is whether the Tongan-born son of a former Otago representative is merely a personality player with some unlikely attributes for an enormously built front rower or whether he actually has the potential to develop into a genuine test star.

After just two Wallaby games and 19 Super matches, it's easy for a nation starved of quality props to get carried away with his potential, but let me be one of the guilty ones. I'm carried away with his potential.

Whether he's yet ready at the top level for a consistent scrummaging performance for 80 minutes is unproven.

By his own admission, he has got by throughout his youth rugby purely on bulk and power.

That technique was ignored is testament to his presence on both those fronts, but it is also a slur on the approach to coaching the art of scrummaging in Australia.

From what I've seen this Super 14 season, I can't recall ever seeing a better footballing prop than Blake. His speed, lateral movement (he is light on his feet) and ball skills are outstanding. He attacks in defence with a wonderful tackling technique and in this era of clocking off after 60 minutes, has been seen going as hard in the 79th minute as he was in the first.

Out injured for the best part of six weeks, Blake is unlikely to see 80 minutes of action at Suncorp, particularly as it seems coach John Connolly's hand was forced in picking him despite so little football of late.

In a scrummaging session the day before the Wallaby XV was announced, Waratahs loosehead Benn Robinson appeared to cause so many problems for incumbent Guy Shepherdson that the selectors made a late change.

In came Rodzilla, and while you have to strain to hear him when he talks, he's already shown that he's learnt the appropriate media patter.

"People are saying I'm the only guy who can make a difference," he said. "But it's eight of us working together who'll get the scrummaging right."

He's not totally accurate. People aren't saying he's the only one who can make a difference. But they are saying he might be the one who can make more of a difference than anyone else.