Canterbury captain James Graham may be the game’s best prop but that hasn’t stopped him from preparing for a titanic clash this Friday against Wests Tigers’ bookends Aaron Woods and Martin Taupau.

Woods is yet to be cleared of a knee injury but Graham is still wary.

“We’ll be preparing like he’s going to play,” Graham told nrl.com.

“Until we get the team sheet on Friday an hour before kickoff, I guess we’ll be preparing like he’s going to play. Even if he isn’t, I don’t think we’ll look at it as a bonus. Not one bit.”

And asked how to stop Taupau?

“With great difficulty. When I first came to the club, he was a young lad coming through and despite him leaving the club, I’m really pleased to see that things have started to come good for him.

“I know how hard he trained when he was here. To see him progress onto international honours, he should be really proud of himself. And he’s really, this past 18 months, been a standout for them. Credit to himself for the amount of work he’s put in.”