Addin Fonua-Blake has expressed his excitement about joining Payne Haas in the front row for the NSW Blues for Game 2 to create havoc for Queensland's engine room.
Haas will return to selection conversations for Laurie Daley following a return after a six-week layoff from a knee injury.
The man-mountain returned for the Brisbane Broncos in their defeat to the St George Illawarra Dragons on Sunday, running the ball 23 times for a staggering 281 metres with ball-in-hand.
It shapes up as a threatening duo for Game 2 in Melbourne, with Fonua-Blake speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald, saying that he is keen to share the field with Haas and do some damage.
“That'd be an ideal situation to go out and get to play alongside him. I definitely think he's one of the best players to ever play the game,” Fonua-Blake said to the publication.
“I've played against him a lot of times and obviously seen what he's capable of. I feel like that would be a really good one-two punch.”
Fonua-Blake started in the front row for the Blues alongside Mitch Barnett. Although a heap of possession saw the Maroons able to topple the Blues duo to start the match, which saw Queensland jump out to 20-0 after 20 minutes.
It was a send-off that let the Blues back into the game and eventually saw them steal victory. It gives Daley plenty to think about for selection a second time over, which will no doubt involve Haas being injected into the starting side to stop the Maroons getting the jump on them early.
“They had no ball and him, and Mitch Barnett were off before they had one or two carries each,” Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon said of Fonua-Blake following the Sharks' match on Friday.
“Then [in] their second stints, both of those front-rowers got them back in the game.”
Fonua-Blake put in a monumental effort to back up following Wednesday night's thriller in Sydney, helping his Cronulla Sharks teammates thwart the high-flying Manly Sea Eagles in the Shire.
The Tongan international put in 44 minutes in the middle for 159 metres in 16 runs against Manly, and almost came up with a try following backing up after an attacking kick.
Although Fitzgibbon was full of praise for all the things Fonua-Blake does that wouldn't usually make the highlights reel.
“Guys like Addin are notorious for their metres and tries and the things that everyone notices, but … he saved three tries in three weeks in a row for us, like on the last plays. [On] kicks down the field [he] turned up on the tryline,” Fitzgibbon added.
Haas and Fonua-Blake will get one more match at clubland before Daley announces his squad for Melbourne, with the Game 2 fixture taking place on June 17.
