A FORMER roommate of Michael Crocker's and a guest at his wedding, Tigers enforcer Todd Payten will put friendship aside at the SCG this afternoon, intent on ruining his good mate's debut in the red and green.
Payten and teammates Robbie Farah, Benji Marshall, Keith Galloway, Chris Heighington, Taniela Tuiaki and John Morris will draw inspiration from what Payten describes as one of the most gut-wrenching moments of his career - round 24 in 2007, the day South Sydney ended the Tigers' campaign to make the finals.
Two years on, the joint-venture club still has not returned to the finals arena and 30-year-old Payten is determined to erase the memory once and for all and claim a top-eight spot at the expense of Crocker and his new-found Rabbitohs comrades.
"I've copped a couple of hidings from Souths over the years in big games for the Tigers," said Payten, who admitted the heritage round clash always created greater intensity.
"We missed the eight in 2007 when Souths beat us in the final rounds and that was probably one of the darkest days of my career.
"That memory resonates with a few of us who were there and experienced that. We needed to win to make the finals and we absolutely got our arses kicked [37-12]. What hurt even more was the fact it was at Leichhardt Oval in front of a packed house. It cut us deep."
The Tigers' job won't be made any easier this afternoon, with centres Chris Lawrence and Dean Collis, plus prop Bryce Gibbs sidelined through injury.
Then there's the Crocker factor. The 28-year-old has won premierships at both his previous clubs, the Storm and Roosters, and helped inspire each side to three grand finals.
His winning record over three seasons at Melbourne was 91 per cent and he went 33 games before tasting his first loss in Storm colours. Payten knows only too well the carnage the former Kangaroos forward is capable of inflicting and has nominated Tigers firebrand Gareth Ellis as the man to wreck Crocker's NRL return after he was denied a British visa to take up a lucrative Super League deal with Hull.
"Crock's one of a kind. Wherever he's played he's had a winning effect but hopefully that'll all change on Sunday," Payten said.
"I haven't spoken to Crock since he made the announcement but I'm looking forward to seeing him on the field and having a whisper or two in his ear.
"He'll be playing on an edge and I'll be playing up the middle, but if I do happen to come across him or tackle him, I'll let him know about it and maybe mention something about the lack of hair on top of his head. But I don't want to stir him up too much. I'll leave Gareth Ellis to sort him out - there'll be some intensity there I'd reckon.
"Gareth, as soon as he crosses the paint, is a different person. He's got that Mick Crocker, Adrian Morley-like aggression … that tenacity on the edge of the ruck. It's going to be interesting watching those two up against each other. I'm glad Mick's back in the game, but I wish he was back next week instead."
Cult figure Daine Laurie gets his chance to cement a first-grade spot today in Gibbs's absence. Tigers coach Tim Sheens expects the powerhouse interchange forward to play significantly more minutes than he has in his brief on-field forays in his previous two matches.