West Tigers enforcer Marty Taupau pressing for NRL Strongman title with 300kg dead lift
WEIGHTS may have fallen comically from each side of the bending barbell, but Marty Taupau reckons he still completed a whopping 300kg dead lift.
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WEIGHTS may have fallen comically from each side of the bending barbell, but Marty Taupau reckons he still completed a whopping 300kg dead lift.
In a staggering push for the NRL Strongman crown, Wests Tigers enforcer Taupau recently posted Youtube footage attempting the massive lift at a private Sydney gym.
A 300kg dead lift would not only be considered an NRL record, but put the 25-year-old up against the heaviest lifters from international rugby union.
Unfortunately for Taupau, as he was completing the movement a latch holding weights onto the barbell came loose — causing plates to start dropping off the side.
Told yesterday by The Daily Telegraph he still appeared to make the lift, the NRL firebrand laughed: “I reckon I did too.
“I had it but then there was a malfunction and ... well, it’s all fun and games.
“I haven’t had another go at 300kg since — it’s too hard to do stuff like that in season.
“But I have done some heavy lifting and, yeah, you guys can figure it out some day.”
Well, maybe be start with the figures already released by Taupau and Sebastian Oreb, the Sydney strength guru with whom he trains privately.
According to a December post on social media, Taupau has deadlifted 260kg twice, 240kg in repetitions of three and 220kg in bunches of five.
A 300kg dead lift, however, would thrust the New Zealand international into elite company.
Among the strongest footballers of the modern era is retired English rugby prop Andrew Sheriden, who could bench 240kg, dead lift 300kg and squat 275kg. Earlier this month in Melbourne, at the 2015 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic, an Englishman named Eddie Hall also set a new dead lift world record — 462kg.
After taking it to South Sydney last weekend, Taupau will tonight line up against his old club, Canterbury Bankstown, in Friday Night Football.
“And Marty will be coming to prove a point,’’ says Doggies lock Greg Eastwood. “We wouldn’t expect anything less.
“From the time he left here, he’s really wanted to prove himself. And now, he is.
“Not only with his form at Wests Tigers but New Zealand too. We will expect some big power coming at us.”
Fellow Canterbury forward Josh Jackson agreed, adding: “I played Under 20s with Marty and he was the same build he is now.
“He’s always been fiery. Hard to stop. But his game has gone to another level this past year and he has the Test caps to prove it.”
Originally published as West Tigers enforcer Marty Taupau pressing for NRL Strongman title with 300kg dead lift
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