Martin Taupau is widely regarded as the strongest player in the NRL, with his impressive running metres putting Manly on the cusp of a surprise top four finals appearance.
However the New Zealand wrecking ball says you haven't seen anything yet.
The Sea Eagles prop will this Sunday play his 100th first grade match, appropriately against former club Wests Tigers.
Taupau has been the bedrock of the Sea Eagles' charge into fourth spot after 18 rounds having made 2133 metres - an average of 164 per game.
Not only is it the fourth most of any forward - behind Jason Taumalolo, Paul Gallen and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - he is on track to break his previous season record of 2816 metres.
In an ominous warning to the rest of the competition, the 27-year-old said there was still a lot he wasn't getting right off the field and was yet to reach his peak.
"There are a lot of things I need to work on, especially in terms of off-the-field and getting my state of mind ready," Taupau said.
"When I get that right, anything can happen."
The Tigers will get a reminder this weekend of who they let go in 2015 after releasing him from his contract a season early.
"It's pretty ironic I get to play against the Tigers," said Taupau, who regularly deadlifts a bar-bending 310kgs in the gym.
The Tigers are stuck in second last and struggling to rebuild after years of in-fighting while Taupau has found a comfortable new home on Sydney's northern beaches.
The Sea Eagles have made a mockery of most experts' pre-season predictions to be in top four contention going into the final third of the regular season, with coach Trent Barrett managing to extract the best out of him.
I feel more relaxed under Trent," Taupau said.
"We're so open about everything when it comes to the football. It's more enjoyable this side of the fence.
"We're up in Manly, you can't really complain, you've got the beaches down the road, you've got the best bunch of men in our group."
Share
