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Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei - Source: Photosport -
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Manu Vatuvei makes his living as a winger for the Warriors but his true value is so much more than that.
The 24-year-old Kiwi international had his share of injury trouble last season but looks stronger than ever in 2010.
Following a gut-busting off-season which he admits was tougher than ever before, Vatuvei is in the best shape of his life.
While much of the hype has been around new halves James Maloney and Brett Seymour, the success of the Warriors this year will also be hugely dependent on 'The Beast'.
At 1.89m tall and 112kg he's not your average winger.
The superstar No.5 offers just about everything a coach could dream of out wide - searing pace, a huge vertical leap and frightening power.
So when he says he's feeling better than ever going into this Sunday's round one game against the Titans, you definitely take notice.
During the pre-season Vatuvei put in plenty of hard work off his wing, coming in to help his forward pack.
Bigger than a lot of forwards in the game, he told tvnz.co.nz that coming in-field to help out is something he will do more of this season.
"That's part of an outside backs role, to come and help the forwards out as much as they can.
"The forwards do most of the tackling and running the ball so we've gotta help them out and make their job a bit easier. I try to use my weight as much as I can and try to do my best every time."
Vatuvei revealed early in the 2009 season that a ligament problem in his knee meant he would have to battle through every game in pain.
He sacrificed having surgery to stay and help his struggling team, sometimes unable to train during the week due to the agony he endured.
Going into the new season though, things have come a long way.
"Nah, there's no more pain.
"Just little niggles but it's just part of soreness from training. I played through it last year and it worked out well.
"My goal this year is to try to not get too many injuries."
Meanwhile, Vatuvei is completely unconcerned about the furore raised last week with the Titans deciding to wear their white away strip at Skilled Park on Sunday afternoon, forcing the Warriors to wear black in the blazing hot Gold Coast sun.
"It doesn't matter what colour we wear. Even wearing black in the heat doesn't matter to us.
"If we wear black and play in the heat - that's it - we've just
got to cop it on the chin and get on with it."
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