Blore war cranks up

DEBUTS don’t come much tougher than having a rampaging Nathan Brown baying for your blood.

But now rookie Shawn Blore is on a collision course with New Zealand Warriors Jack Hetherington, who emerged as a cult hero when he stood up to Sydney Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in their narrow loss last weekend.

Wests Tigers forward Blore made headlines in his first NRL game last week as he found himself in a battle with Parramatta’s Brown, clashing three times in 60 seconds in a rousing display.

In his first interview since that clash, the 20-year-old described it as “by far the best thing I’ve ever done”.

Of the 28 tackles the Tigers rookie made that night, the standouts came in a sequence where the rampaging Eel targeted Blore.

“When he took that last carry at me it was the best tackle I’ve ever made – or definitely my favourite one,” Blore said.

“It was the most tackles I’ve ever made in a game, especially in that short a time, and the body feels like it’s been hit with a bat.

“That little blue at the end with Nathan Brown was awesome, it just topped it off for me. I grew up watching him play, so I thought it was pretty cool that he even wanted to argue with me.”

Blore made a beeline for Brown after full-time to shake his hand, something an irate Waerea-Hargreaves refused to do with Warriors forward Hetherington following their run-in.

Hetherington, whose loan deal from Penrith was extended for another four games this week, will start for the Warriors against the Tigers on Friday night, while Blore will again come off the bench.