They're the backbone of the Sydney Roosters. Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary. And the Canberra Raiders have spent the week working on minimising their impact.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just as they have with Roosters star fullback James Tedesco ahead of their top-four blockbuster at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
For players of that quality, Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said it's not about shutting them down - it's about minimising their contribution.
Cronk and Keary are probably the biggest name halves pairing in the NRL, guiding the Chooks to last year's premiership.
Keary has the second most try assists in the competition.
Stuart said they were two of the players they'd looked at throughout the week and had come up with plans for.
Then there's Tedesco, touted as the best fullback in the world. He runs off the back of what the Roosters halves create.
Tedesco's the NRL co-leader for line breaks and leader for tackle breaks.
Stuart has set his sights on damage control when second and third on the ladder go head to head.
"There's a few players that we've spent time on," he revealed.
"They've got two quality halves - Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary - they're very special players and steer the team around.
"They're the backbone of their machine.
"They're very strategic in regards to the way they play and then the quality of Tedesco at the back. He's very hard to handle.
"You've got to try to limit everything you can for him. He's going to play well. You've just got to try to limit his contribution."
MORE RAIDERS NEWS
In contrast, the Raiders halves are less highly acclaimed, but that doesn't mean they're any less effective - although Roosters coach Trent Robinson labelled them "conservative".
The Green Machine is on a four-game winning streak and sits third on the NRL ladder.
They're also the third most potent attack in the NRL - a statistic that's flown under the radar given Canberra's defensive focus this season.
Raiders halfback Aidan Sezer has taken plenty of confidence from how they're travelling.
He was under no illusions what both Cronk and Keary brought to Canberra Stadium - big-game players with big-game experience.
"We're third in the competition for attack so we're going all right," Sezer said.
"There's always room to improve and we're going to have to be good and improve over these next few weeks leading into the back end of the year.
"The games don't get any easier now and there's no excuses. We'll be looking forward to getting there in front of a home crowd on Sunday."
Sezer's halves partner Jack Wighton felt the Raiders spine was starting to click.
It's been the same four - Sezer, Wighton, hooker Josh Hodgson and fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad - the past five games.
"It's probably the best our spine has been for a little while, with me, Hodgo and Aidan communicating well," Wighton said.
"It shows. It's been great. It was unlucky, he had that injury and I had Sammy [Williams] for a few weeks. We went well.
"Now we've had a few training runs together and a couple of games, I think we're really finding ourselves and working well with each other."
NRL ROUND 21
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 2pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Nick Cotric, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (C), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Ryan Sutton, 19. Joey Leilua, 20. Emre Guler.
Roosters squad: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Brett Morris, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Sam Verrills, 10. Isaac Liu, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Mitchell Aubusson, 13. Victor Radley. Interchange: 14. Nat Butcher, 15. Zane Tetevano, 16. Poasa Faamausili, 17. Sitili Tupouniua, 20. Matt Ikuvalu, 21. Lachlan Lam.