It's the battle between the elephant and the rhinoceros - that's how Jamal Idris eloquently puts it.
He's talking about Sunday night's showdown with power-packed Warriors centre Konrad Hurrell, when 222 kilograms of flesh will collide on the outskirts of Sportingbet Stadium.
Idris, the biggest centre in the competition, who tips the scales at 120 kilograms, is taller and heavier than his Kiwi counterpart, but what the stocky Warriors centre lacks in stature, he more than compensates in power.
The 23-year-old rugby union convert has 78 tackle breaks and 16 line breaks to his name from just 18 games in a season that has him pushing for centre-of-the-year status.
Then there's Idris, all 195 centimetres of him, who averages 114 metres per game and collated 71 tackle breaks over 19 games this year.
While Idris admits he was "schooled" by Hurrell the last time the pair went head-to-head, he insists he prefers the physical confrontations rather than trying to shut down the fleet-footed centres in the competition.
"Other centres rely on speed and footwork whereas he's the kind of centre who when he gets you one on one, he turns into a front rower," Idris said of his Warriors counterpart.
"He's got one goal and that's to get through you and over you. I probably like the bigger blokes better because there's nothing worse than having a little nippy bloke and trying to catch him. It's like an elephant trying to catch a mouse. It doesn't go down well. I think it's an elephant and rhino with me and him."
As for the best way to prepare for trying to stop a runaway train?
"I'll probably just practise during the week headbutting a brick wall," Idris said.
"He's definitely one of those players you have to use your team defence on. You depend on your inside and your outside man ... He's playing outstanding and he does everything the Warriors ask of him."
A decade ago it was unheard of to have a player weighing in at over 100 kilograms playing in the back line, with most players of that size required to do the hard yards through the middle of the field.
However, the evolution of the modern game has seen a huge change in the body shape required to play out wide, which Idris believes has contributed to an increase in injuries.
"It's kind of weird, I guess that's why there are far more injuries in the game these days as well," he said.
"People are getting bigger, they're getting faster, they're getting stronger and they are falling in more awkward positions."
It's been a long time between drinks for Idris he hasn't featured in a finals series for five years.
But with Penrith guaranteed a finals berth heading into Sunday night's final-round clash with the Warriors, the former Canterbury and Gold Coast centre said he couldn't help but be excited.
"I still remember last time I played [finals] was in 2009 against Parramatta when I was at the Bulldogs," he said.
"There were 84,000 people there, which is still a record for a semi-final. Just the feel when you ran on to the field ... I remember the first kick Parra had as well, Luke Patten got it and got knocked out his first run, the poor bloke. Things like that just stick in your mind."
