Hunter rugby union: Hawks prop Chris Hemi the man to stop

Hemi is from Berry's home Greytown, an hour north-east of Wellington, and he had coached the 22-year-old as a schoolboy.

Hemi scored a heap of tries in those days, but Berry didn't expect the trend to continue in first grade in Newcastle - not that Berry is complaining.

The loosehead prop, who stands 180cm and weighs 123kg, is the leading try-scorer in the competition, charging over for 20 tries. He would have 24 if Lake Macquarie were not wiped from the competition.

The incredible haul has come from just nine games.

He is fresh from scoring four in the Hawks' 46-13 triumph over Southern Beaches which bettered the three hat-tricks he had in the kit bag.

"He is a bit of a weapon," Berry said. "He has played nine games for 20 tries, anyone would be happy with that. He is 123 kilograms and is one of the fastest in the team."

The majority of Hemi's five-pointers are scored from inside the 22m. He shifts a couple of passes wide, finds a miss-match and winds up.

"He enjoys the way we use him," Berry said. "It varies where he gets the ball. He is big and strong and hard to stop. The players around him also help."

Hemi and fellow Kiwi Taufa Kinkini will be key when the Hawks take on Maitland at Marcellin Park on Saturday.

Kinikini shifts from lock back to No.8 to cover for an injured Steve Lamont.

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Maitland coach Luke Cunningham is fully aware of the danger Hemi poses to a Blacks' outfit minus gamebreaker Pat Batey (concussion) and coming off an upset 27-15 loss to University.

"Hemi is a strong ball carrier and you can't give people like that space to wind up," Cunningham said. "They are pretty smart and use him out near the flanks. We need to make sure we match up our numbers and cut down some of his time to wind up. He is a strong, low-built guy that has caused plenty of destruction."

Maitland beat Hamilton 27-22 at Passmore Oval in round five. Hemi scored in that match but Pat Batey stole the show.

With Batey out on Saturday, Dane Corben moves from inside centre to fullback and also takes over the kicking duties.

As well as Batey, the Blacks have lost winger Josh Gray and lock Cal Vizer, while Sam Callow and Aiden Procopis are in doubt.

"Against Hamo, regardless of who you have in you backline, your forwards have to stand up because of the size of their pack and their ball running," Cunningham said. "I have challenged our backline. The guys playing are well and truly up to it. Everyone needs to lift. We were off the pace against Uni. We lacked urgency. Uni were the opposite. They had energy, they had enthusiasm and they worked off the ball. Our blokes didn't match it. It was a wake up call. The intensity at training this week has lifted and I expect a far better performance."

Elsewhere Saturday, University will be out to make it back-to-back wins and hurt Nelson Bay's play-off hopes when they host the Marlins.

Lachy Milton returns to the Merewether starting side against Southern Beaches at Ernie Calland Field.

Wanderers and Singleton have the bye.

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