St George Illawarra captain Mark Gasnier towered over his Manly rival Matt Orford at yesterday's captains call for the NRL finals series.
The two squared off in front of the cameras at Sydney Football Stadium as part of the build-up for Saturday night's clash at Brookvale Oval - and at 193cm, Gasnier stood some 17cm above the pint-sized Sea Eagles playmaker.
The Dragons' impressive head-to-head record against Manly also looms large over Orford and his team-mates.
"That was made very clear to me this morning that our record's not been the best," Orford said during yesterday's press conference.
"But it's finals football, so it probably doesn't count for too much."
While Orford brushed the damning statistics aside, it does provide hope for Dragons supporters still shellshocked that their top-four crusade has developed into a fight for survival.
The Dragons have won seven of their past eight games against Manly and won four of six at Brookvale Oval.
They've won nine of 12 since St George and Illawarra merged in 1999 - excluding the Northern Eagles years of 2000-2002 - as well as the last time the two clubs met in a semi-final.
In 2006, the Dragons demolished Manly 28-0 in a week two finals clash at the SFS.
But Gasnier denied St George Illawarra had the wood on last year's grand finalists.
"I definitely wouldn't say 'wood' and I'm not being a politician," Gasnier said.
"A lot of our games have been a bit scrappy, to be honest, and we've been the better of the teams when we played them."
Gasnier said he spoke to the players after Friday night's loss to the Roosters, telling team-mates their finals campaign had not been derailed by the 10-0 loss at a rain-soaked SFS.
"After the game (Roosters) when I spoke to the boys, I said as far as we're concerned we have to win four games to win the comp," Gasnier said.
"That what I emphasised to our players. Sometimes it brings out the best in you.
"When it's do or die."
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