Manly winger Jorge Taufua has taken living in the football bubble to a whole new level claiming he wasn’t aware that Canterbury superstar Ben Barba had made his long-awaited return to the NRL last week.
Taufua’s Sea Eagles take on Barba’s Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Friday night, with several Manly players admitting some of the hype had gone out of the match-up a year on from coach Des Hasler’s switch of clubs.
Barba made his 2013 debut against South Sydney on Good Friday after being stood down by the club to deal with a range of off-field issues.
But his comeback hadn’t caught the eye of the shy Manly winger.
Asked about the prospect of Barba being better for his run against the Rabbitohs, Taufua said:
“I didn’t even know he was back, I guess so.”
He was also unaware of Krisnan Inu’s likely unavailability over the dangerous throw he committed against Rabbitohs fullback Greg Inglis.
Taufua said he didn’t read too much press about football or even watch many games “unless a couple of my friends are playing”, but he said the intrigue of coming up against former coach Hasler was nowhere near the level of last year’s drama filled return of the two-time premiership-winning coach to Brookvale.
“Not really, not as much as last year, the hype’s gone down a bit,” Taufua said.
“For myself it’s just the same as any other week, other players might be different but it’s just another game.”
While Taufua may not have witnessed Barba’s return, rival No.1 Brett Stewart said he was keenly anticipating the match-up.
“The patches that I saw it looked like he was in a good place, it’s very good for the game and the club that he’s back,” Stewart said of Barba.
“I’m looking forward to the test against Barba, it’s always good coming up against the best.”