Even as late as yesterday, the entire Sea Eagles squad were going through their paces at his Gracie Barra Gym in Brookvale.

„Everyone says John Donehue (Storm wrestle coach) is the man who changed the NRL,” Rezende said. „I want to be the man who beat the man who changed the NRL.”

Suddenly, the 2008 Grand Final is the ultimate wrestling showdown. It’s a match-up born after last year’s Grand Final, when Manly coach Des Hasler and his inner sanctum dissected their loss to Melbourne.

The group were said to be upset with the way Manly players reacted – or, more importantly, failed to react – after Storm enforcer Michael Crocker flattened fullback Brett Stewart. They also identified the Storm’s wrestling tactics on the ground as a key area Manly needed to improve on if they were to challenge for the 2008 title.

Put simply, Manly needed to handpick a fighter who could help them break the grapple.

Enter Rezende. Like Donehue, this softly-spoken Brazilian is a master in jiu-jitsu, having trained in the art since age 14.

He started in his homeland under the guidance of Carlos Gracie Jr, whose father Carlos Sr is the founder of the combat form now practised extensively worldwide.

But while the Melbourne wrestling coach has refused all media interviews, Rezende, 31, was last night happy to go on the record.

„Because we don’t teach anything illegal, no grapples or holds that are banned,” said the man who also holds children’s classes every afternoon. „Jiu-jitsu is called body chess because for every move there is a counter. Then a counter to that.

„It really is infinite.” Asked if he had studied the Storm’s grappling practices, Rezende said: „Yes, definitely. All the teams these days are basically doing similar things.

„The key is to be able to stop them. If someone wants to grapple or hold you, you need to know how to react. Where to put your hands, where to put your body: the technical things.

„You want to be able to control the wrestle on the ground with leverage, balance and technique.

„I remember this time last year The Daily Telegraph ran a story saying, ‘this is the man who changed the NRL’. And at the time I thought, ‘you know, imagine if I could beat the man who changed the NRL’ . . . how cool would that be?”