St George Illawarra Dragons second-rower Leeson Ah Mau is eager to perform well in front of his family when he clashes with the New Zealand Warriors at Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday.
The Samoa international was additionally enthusiastic to be part of the line-up that beat Wests Tigers in the opening round and hopes for more similar opportunities.
Ah Mau, 24, admits he has found the NRL’s recent rule changes to the game have resulted in a quicker play speed and increased the players’ ability to fit more into the 80 minutes.
“It was really great to go out on the field after a long preseason and we played well enough to come out with the win over the weekend,” said Ah Mau.
“I was very excited to be named in the Round 1 side; I have been working extremely hard over preseason and it was great to get a shot but I know I need to keep working hard.
“It was a physical and fast game against the Tigers on Sunday.
“The rule changes have resulted in a much faster game, especially around the play the ball.
“It’s always tough going over to New Zealand to play in games and they’ve just come off a loss so we are expecting them to be fired up in front of a home crowd, but it will be good to go back home for a bit.
“My family will be coming to the game to watch in New Zealand; my Mum, Dad, sisters and cousins will all be there on Saturday.
“I’m not really sure if I’ll be playing tour guide during our time over there; hopefully we get a little bit of time off so I can show them around.
“The whole Warriors squad is very threatening, we have to be on our game and focus on ourselves which will hopefully go well.
“If de Belin is out for this game it will mean a little bit more work for us forwards, but hopefully he will be healthy and ready to play on Saturday.”
