Mystery over Hammer time
Cows gun missed speed trials
NORTH Queensland’s human highlight Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow has speed to burn but even the Cowboys admit they are unsure just how fast the 18-year-old is.
Tabuai-Fidow lit up the NRL last weekend with his incredible effort against the Panthers, sprinting past seven defenders – which included a near-stumble – to score one of the tries of the year.
The Cowboys No.1 clocked at 10.85sec over 100m as a 16year-old but his coaching staff believe he’s faster than that.
Tabuai-Fidow missed the club’s official sprint testing last year because he was rehabilitating a bad hamstring injury.
Cowboys head of performance Michael Dobbin described Tabuai-Fidow’s pace as a “rare gift” ahead of tonight’s clash with Manly.
“In that first year, we hadn’t really thrown him into the testing,” Dobbin said. “He had a reasonable injury leading into that and he was being rehabbed by us.
“That’s where it all comes from – that no one knows how fast he actually is.
“He’s certainly quick though and he’d be a 10 metre per second kind of athlete.
“It’s a pretty rare gift to be given and no one at training can catch him.
“Everyone saw it at the Nines – he only runs as fast as he needs to get to someone or to get away from someone. That legend has stuck ever since.”
The Cairns product has made the most of his opportunity at fullback in place of the injured Valentine Holmes, with two tries and close to 100 running metres a game.
Tabuai-Fidow’s First XV coach at Brisbane Grammar School, Paul Warwick, saw his potential at fullback from an early age following a classy display against a future rugby star.
“He’s got something you can’t coach,” Warwick said.
“A game that springs to mind was when we played Brisbane State High and the now Reds (and Wallabies) fullback Jordan Petaia was the opposite fullback.
“It was a real contrast between a big, confrontational fullback to Hamiso who was very elusive and hard to catch.
“Hamiso ended up being the better fullback that day because we ended up winning.”
Tonight’s clash will be Tabuai-Fidow’s first five-day turnaround as an elite athlete, and the club is doing everything to ensure he is fully fit for the match.