Silence – nothing speaks more about the mutual respect between veteran centres Matt Cooper and Justin Hodges.
The pair will mark each other for the 13th time on Friday night when Cooper’s St George Illawarra host Brisbane at WIN Stadium, eight clashes having been at NRL level and another four on the biggest stage – State of Origin.
Honours are even with six wins apiece.
Hodges started the season brilliantly with a starring role in Brisbane’s first-round loss to Manly, Cooper admitting he would have to be on his game to stop the Queensland and Australian Test representative.
But Cooper isn’t expecting the verbal barrage Hodges normally reserves for his opponents.
“Me and him are pretty good. I think we’ve got that mutual respect there,” Cooper said of his old sparring partner.
“He never says anything to me on the field – we’re pretty good mates. We just go out there, play our natural game and try and get on top of each other.
“This battle’s been going on for years – it’s only going to be bigger tomorrow night.”
Spurring Cooper on will be the fact he has never scored a try at NRL level when lining up against Hodges, compared with two tries for the veteran Broncos three-quarter.