Jai Whitbread has seen the best and worst of Payne Haas.
The best was playing alongside him first for the Gold Coast Mal Meninga Cup side and then in the Brisbane Broncos under 20s.
The worst?
Any time he has had to play against him.
With former Broncos duo Jai Arrow and Keegan Hipgrave missing it will be left to Whitbread to face many of the young tyros with whom he forged a reputation coming through the grades.
The 21-year-old has been a regular in the Titans team since he was brought in for his second NRL appearance in round five, including a satisfying 26-18 win over Brisbane in round 13 that kept some former teammates quiet in the aftermath.
But it's been lean pickings for the Titans since and they'll need to stop the likes of Haas, Matt Lodge, Tevita Pangai, Joe Ofahengaue, David Fifita and Patrick Carrigan up front if they are to register two wins over the Broncos in a season for the first time in club history.
Considered a front runner to be crowned Rookie of the Year at the end of the season, Haas has made over 160 metres in six of his past eight games so Whitbread is under no illusions about how difficult he will be to stop.
Titans v Broncos - Round 19
"Have you seen the size of him? He's a monster," was Whitbread's simple response to what makes Haas so effective.
"He's got an unbelievable engine for a big guy and a good work ethic, which is why he does so much damage.
"I played 18s with him in Mal Meninga Cup for Gold Coast.
"He could create so much and you'd just get off the back of him. He's just a strong, fast ball carrier.
"I played against him in Mal Meninga Cup too which wasn't as fun.”
Having drawn comparisons with Titans specialist coach and Maroons legend Trevor Gillmeister for the way he can chop down men much larger than himself, Whitbread intends to use such an approach to stop Haas.
Giving up eight centimetres in height and 11 kilograms to one of the men he will meet in the middle, Whitbread admits there are hazards whichever way you approach the tackle.
"It's situational," Whitbread said of his aim point.
"If you go high, he's such a powerful bloke he can bump you off pretty easily so chopping the legs is effective on a lot of big blokes.
"Just got to watch out for the hips and knees and all that sort of stuff.
"That's probably the best way to approach it."
Named in the starting side for the third week in a row, Titans prop Jack Stockwell is of the opinion that stopping the likes of Haas, Pangai, Lodge and Fifita is not simply a one-man job.
"Those blokes are all built solidly and they're just powerful, powerful humans," said Stockwell.
"If you try and go up on the ball one-on-one they're just going to bump you off so it's about getting numbers in tackles, chopping legs early and trying to get them on the deck as quickly as possible.
"I watch the odd game on TV but you always see replays of those kind of boys running strong and hard, scoring tries and playing good footy, which is what we're coming up against.
"We're coming up against a young, inexperienced but really powerful pack who aren't afraid to run hard, offload the ball and play footy.
"I'm really looking forward to it."
