England's James Graham: We’ll be ready for a physical battle at Galpharm

Nov 5 2009 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

“We’re always confident but we played some good rugby in the second half last Saturday and hopefully we can use that as a springboard for the rest of the competition,” said Graham, who is set to start for the second match in a row.

“When Eorl and Sam came off the bench, it took the game to Australia. They are two great carriers of the ball and they changed the game.

“That proves it’s a 17-man game. Coming off the bench, you still get to play long minutes.”

Wigan hooker Thomas Leuluai, the only Super League-based player in the New Zealand squad, agrees Saturday’s match is likely to be decided by the forward battle and is particularly looking forward to the match-up between Burgess and Parramatta powerhouse Fuifui Moimoi.

Moimoi came off second best when they clashed in the 2007 Test series when he was unable to eat solids for three days after the match following a big collision with an 18-year-old Burgess.

“Fui definitely won’t take a step backwards and neither will Sam,” said Leuluai. “Sam’s big and strong and he’s playing well at the moment. It’s going to be a good contest between those two.

“I’ll try and stay out of it. I’ll tell you what, if Fui gets knocked down, he’ll definitely get back up.”