Manly winger Jorge Taufua intends to ignore any "gibberish" from chatterbox Blake Ferguson when he faces off against the hulking Eel on Saturday night.
The Sea Eagles hitman said his side must show aggression to contain the unbeaten Parramatta's powerful back five of Clint Gutherson, Maika Sivo, Michael Jennings, Waqa Blake and Ferguson.
He expects that marking Ferguson at Bankwest Stadium will be a verbal confrontation as well as a daunting physical challenge.
"He talks a lot - I'm not too sure if it's to himself," Taufua said of the NSW Origin representative.
"I don't think his teammates listen to him very much. I just kind of try and tune him out and just focus.
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"Otherwise I think that's all part of his plan, just to get me to listen and bite at, I don't know, whatever he's talking. It's a lot of gibberish."
Taufua said it would be a "collective job" to limit the impact of Ferguson, noting he is a "big body, very athletic".
Manly, who have a 2-1 record, are determined to knock their traditional foes from their perch - especially since the Eels hold bragging rights after a 32-16 win over Des Hasler's side in round 25 last year.
"The rivalry is pretty alive. We're up for it this week and we can't wait to verse [sic] them," Taufua said.
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Lock Jake Trbojevic said Parramatta are deserved favourites after beating the Bulldogs, Titans and Broncos.
"You look at their side, you can't really find a weakness. They're playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of form, and out at Bankwest they're always hard to beat," he said.
"The way they've played the first three games, they have been aggressive. They've won on the back of it.
"And on the back of the foundation that their forwards have laid, their outside backs have been outstanding."
Trbojevic lauded Manly's re-signing of strike centre Moses Suli ahead of the clash, describing him as a "special player".
"Des has been great for him," Trbojevic said.
"He's really got a great knack of getting the best out of every player and he's really unlocked Moses's potential and he's turned into a really consistent player for us."
Meanwhile, Taufua joked that his wing partner, Reuben Garrick, had been "demoted to his red Ps when it comes to his kicking licence" after missing five of seven conversions in last week's win over Canterbury.
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"He copped a lot after the game. He complained that there was too much sanitiser on the balls and he wanted the ball-boys to blow-dry it or something before he put it on the tee," he quipped.
"We'll give him one more crack this week.
"Hopefully we can put some points on to get his practice in."
