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Manly centre Moses Suli.

Manly's right edge of Moses Suli and Reuben Garrick is only one game-old but they're prepared for the commanding presence of Roosters pair Latrell Mitchell and Daniel Tupou.

And Mitchell in particular brings a bit of lip as well as his unpredictability wrapped up in a 102kg frame.

"If he does, I won't really mind. I'll laugh it off," Suli said when asked if Mitchell's chatter would get under his skin at Lottoland on Sunday.

"I don’t mind it anyway, even though I'm not a talker myself. I just put my head down and play footy.

"I think I'm pretty tough-skinned for that sort of stuff.  Plenty of people chat at you on the field.

"But he's a great player so he can talk all he wants. It won't worry me."

It was a case of 'bring it on' by Suli, who might attract some attention since he's been quite open over the fact he returned to pre-season training 10kg overweight.

"Why not? It'll be a bit of fun," Suli said, adding that head trainer Don Singe had got him down to 112kg.

Taupau lost for words over Christchurch attack

Garrick fronts up to the defending premiers in just his second NRL game, after his debut resulted in a 20-6 loss to Wests Tigers at Leichhardt last week.

"I'm not daunted by it. I feel like I'm playing with some good confidence at the moment so it doesn't matter who I'm up against," the 21-year-old said of the Mitchell-Tupou combo running at him.

"I've got a lot of trust inside me with Moses and Daly [Cherry-Evans] so they'll help me out if the going gets tough.

"Des [Hasler] has made me focus on my defence in the pre-season so I'm trying to revolve my game around getting that right. I’m naturally an attacking player so I've really enjoyed his input."

Garrick's concerns lie later this season as he's been signed to a one-year deal at Manly. The former NSW Under-18s and Under-20s player has spent two years in Canterbury Cup with the Dragons. But 13 tries in 27 games shows he's an asset.

"I was happy with my performance on the weekend. With the contract side of things I'm not worried about it – I can't let it worry me," he said.

"I'm going to try to play my best footy; play with confidence; and hope I get another deal."

Sea Eagles winger Reuben Garrick.
Sea Eagles winger Reuben Garrick. ©Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos

Garrick did admit how good it felt to finally get his NRL debut.

"It's always nice to get to the top. As clichéd as it sounds it was a dream come true for me," Garrick said.

And the Sea Eagles made the day more memorable by framing his jersey and then handing it back to him.

"That was nice of them. I appreciated it," the 21-year-old said.

 

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