Pint-sized Turuva preparing for Warbrick barrage

Sunia Turuva was spotted at training this week defusing cross-field kicks ahead of a showdown with Will Warbrick in Friday night's preliminary final at Accor Stadium.

Warbrick's leaping effort to help the Storm advance to the grand final qualifier will go down in finals history as one of the best finishes with the underdogs likely to use him in the air again against pint-sized Turuva this weekend.

With over 10 centimetres of height difference, the Panthers winger said it was pure coincidence and a regular weekly measure that he spends time on shutting down kicks at the end of training sessions.

Also in the set-up were Stephen Crichton helping Turuva in defence and Zac Hosking, who was trying to put pressure on the Fijian winger. 

"It was a pretty good try [by Warbrick] but that’s us every week trying to stay on top of things and making sure we don't fall away from basic fundamentals," Turuva told pan66.com.

"There’s nothing extra doing this week on that. 'Bizza' (Brian To'o) and I are pretty short guys so we're usually giving up height to whoever we come up against.

"It doesn’t look too good when me and him are walking around with Critta (Stephen Crichton) at the shops when he’s over seven feet tall and we can’t even reach six feet. It’s embarrassing.

"But we pride ourselves on that out there on the field especially when other guys are taller than us. You just have to keep your eyes on the ball and try to get up as high as possible and catch the thing.

"You can’t afford to let the guy have an easy run to the ball either. That’s where the trouble starts to come in if the guy is able to get a free catch.

"Everyone helps each other here. The play isn’t over until we get the ball back and are playing the ball."

Turuva said he was blown away with the intensity of finals football after experiencing his first match against the Warriors at BlueBet Stadium prior to the side's week off earlier this month. 

After being unable to travel with the Panthers due to COVID-19 squad number restrictions in 2021, Turuva watched on as the side clinched their third premiership in Queensland just weeks after grieving the loss of his mother Salote. 

He was on the cusp to play in the finals as a top 30 squad member last season before Charlie Staines was preferred for the preliminary and grand final following Taylan May's hamstring injury. 

A Dally M rookie of the year contender, Turuva has only missed one match in 2023 - a forced rest by coach Ivan Cleary - and is now chasing rugby league's ultimate prize alongside many of his teammates who have already experienced the feeling.

"When it came to making a decision on whether I would sign here for longer or not I just had a real big think about what the club has done for me and moments like that," Turuva said, reflecting on the support following his mother's passing.

"It was frustrating because I didn’t know what to do because I hadn't played first grade yet but once I sat down with a few people I ended up making the decision.

"I'm glad I didn't go anywhere else. This is home for me."