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One is the Queensland bushie who made his Maroons’ Origin debut at 32 years of age. The other is a Tongan firebrand who once went so hard at training, he broke a star teammate’s jaw.
Together, Kurt Mann and Sitili Tupouniua – Canterbury’s odd couple – have formed one of the NRL’s most destructive bench combinations.
Mann and Tupouniua have had no problems bending the line against tiring packs the past couple of weeks, and will lift the Dogs when injected into the action against Penrith on Sunday.
The pair struck an immediate bond when they were first introduced at training in the off-season – and they quickly established they had more in common than just their long locks.
“Sitili is one of my favourite players to play with – if you asked him to run through a brick wall, he’d do it for you,” Mann said this week.
“I love coming off the bench with him, we gelled quickly at training. ‘Ciro’ [coach Cameron Ciraldo] and the other coaches see us as a bit of a weapon, and hopefully we can make an impact on Sunday.
Sitili Tupouniua and Kurt Mann have been lethal off the bench for Canterbury.Credit: Kate Geraghty.
“Sitili hits hard. I’ve been friendly fire when he’s come from the other side and hit a bloke into me. If I’m only getting the second impact of it, and ‘old mate’ is copping the full brunt of it, I’d hate to be the bloke copping the full brunt of it.”
Tupouniua joined the Bulldogs this year from the Roosters and has been a favourite of Ciraldo’s for his physicality even with suspensions and injuries limiting him to 11 games this season.
As an uncapped 20-year-old at Bondi, he first made a name for himself when he accidentally broke Luke Keary’s jaw during a 2018 training drill at the Sydney Roosters.
“That day poor old Kez [Keary] copped it, oh man, I felt awful,” Tupouniua said. “It was an accident at training, I just raced out of the line and the ‘red head’ in me took over.
“I broke his jaw and I was a bit rattled afterwards because it was my first pre-season with the top squad.
“A few of the senior guys got around me and said ‘don’t worry, it was an accident, and that’s how we want you to defend’, but with a bit more control.
“I feel like I’ve always had that physical side to my game; it’s when I’ve played my best footy, but then it has also caused me a few suspensions at the beginning of this year. It’s about finding that balance.”
Tupouniua said Mann had played a key role in keeping him calm on the sideline before the pair entered the action together.
Sitili Tupouniua and Kurt Mann kicking back with Jaeman Salmon before training this week.Credit: KATE GERAGHTY
“‘Killer’ [Mann] keeps me calm and is always clear about what our roles are,” Tupouniua said.
“We’ll talk about what we want to do and what we’re seeing from the bench. He’s not the biggest bloke, but he’s such a beast. He just flies off the line.”
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Tupouniua and Mann are impossible to miss because of their hair, with Mann admitting, “I’m growing mine now before it all falls out; I don’t think Sitili’s will fall out”.
Both men have plenty of big-game experience, and will cope with the emotion that comes with playing in front of 70,000 fans.
While Mann debuted for the Maroons this year, Tupouniua said he was set to make himself unavailable for Tonga at the Pacific Championships in a bid to give himself a full pre-season at the Dogs.
Mann praised the role of Harry Hayes coming off the bench, while back-rower Jacob Preston said of the Mann-Tupouniua combination: “You feel the energy when they come on, they train at the same level [of intensity] they play, and they give you that lift.”
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