Dyldam Parramatta Eels centre Brad Takairangi will line up for his 100th NRL game this week when the Blue and Gold take on the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Pirtek Stadium for Round 22 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
The milestone for Takairangi is one that he will cherish and something he is extremely proud of.
“It has been a long time coming I guess. I am really happy to play one game so to get 100 is something I’m really proud of,” Takairangi said.
“Something to be proud of for myself and my family.”
After suffering a 23-8 loss to the Wests Tigers last week, Takairangi says the opportunity to rebound and bounce back with a victory over the Sea Eagles is one he looks forward to.
“It was a disappointing loss against the Tigers. We had a lot of players but it was no excuse for us we went out there to get the win, but it wasn’t to be,” Takairangi said.
“We had enough opportunities to get the win, but we weren’t good enough in the end.”
“The best thing about that is we get to play in a couple of days so that’s the best way for us to turn it around.”
Takairangi knows the Blue and Gold can take plenty of positives out of their Round 21 clash.
“We have to take our opportunities when we create them. We had a couple of chances out there to get a couple of tries and we couldn’t finish it off with that last pass,” Takairangi said.
“It is going to be a massive game this week against Manly who are still a chance of making the eight.”
“They are going to come out firing and we will have to do our best to stop them.”
And returning in front of the Blue and Gold Army, Takairangi is looking forward to playing in front of the Members and fans and also up against his former teammate.
“I think the banter has already started to be honest. Big Luss is on fire, definitely on the comeback to his old ground and he will want to put in a big performance,” Takairangi said.
“That is our home, we have a lot of pride when we play there so it will be a big challenge but we are looking forward to it.”
The Eels will kick off against the Sea Eagles this Friday night at Pirtek Stadium. Kick off at 7:50pm.
