St George Illawarra Dragons second-rower Luciano Leilua has called for his team to stop the dangerous Stephen Crichton during Saturday's clash against the Canterbury Bulldogs.
The star edge forward has been in blistering form for the Dragons of late, who enter Saturday's sold out clash against Canterbury on the back of the club's first win in Victoria for 25 years.
But the Bulldogs have been the major surprise packet of this year's competition. Like the Dragons, they have thrown early predictions of a wooden spoon fight out and are pushing for a spot in the top four instead.
A win on Saturday evening could ensure the Bulldogs are in the mix to finish there, and all but lock their top eight finish into place, while the Red V could also move a giant step closer to finals rugby league for the first time in six years with a victory.
But Leilua, speaking to the media on Wednesday, admitted shutting down Crichton - who arrived at Belmore from the Penrith Panthers at the start of this season and has been the key man for Cameron Ciraldo's side - would be paramount to victory.
โWe'll do some video today (on Crichton) so ask me again on the weekend (how to stop him)," Leilua said in one part per News Corp.
โI've been watching him, he is a gun and a freak. He's been a top centre for a while.
โI think we have to attack his legs and hope for the best. Honestly, try to get him out of the game, that's all you can do man.โ
The game, which is already sold out, is the Dragons' third full house of the year, but their first at Kogarah in over a decade.
The sell out on the back of the win over Melbourne which has St George Illawarra in the top eight has the Dragons 'starting to believe' according to Leilua.
โI think the boys now are starting to believe it and that's all that matters. Once we believe it, we can start winning,โ Leilua said.
โI know how big of a game it is. Looking at the ladder, that's the best thing that has happened to the club right now, every game means something.
โI think in the past, the last couple of years have been hard but all the boys now know every game means something.โ
There is almost an undoubted added storyline to Saturday evening's contest, with Flanagan and Ciraldo both in the mix to be named coach of the year.
Speaking on Zero Tackle's The Knock On Podcast, Dan Nichols and Terry Mortimer both said the game could help decide the award at the Dally M awards, but that both coaches were well in the mix for the award.
"I think these are the two. The way the Storm were going, you kind of went can you really take it off Craig Bellamy, but it's now only a two-point gap on the ladder. I think even if they hold onto the minor premiership, I don't think the gap is big enough to overcome what the other two [Ciraldo and Flanagan] have done," Nichols said.
"We had them [St George Illawarra] last confidently. I love what he is doing at the Dragons. I love what Ciraldo is doing at the Bulldogs. The scenes at Belmore were downright incredible. That was a legitimate return to Belmore and I loved every minute of it.
"Either of those two are fine by me."
Kick-off in Saturday night's clash is scheduled for 7:35pm (AEST).
