In another life, Leilani Latu wouldve been just another big dog.But ahead of Sundays NRL elimination final against Canterbury, Latu will be Penriths biggest cat in a Moore Park cage full of the baddest canines out of Belmore.Ahead of his first game against his former club, the Panthers prop credits the Bulldogs for a breakout season that finally showed why many rated Latu a better prospect than David Klemmer.So impressive has the 23-year-old been at the foot of the mountains this year that he became just one of five players across the league to be handed a contract until the end of the 2020 season.And he owes most of it down to his old coaches.Everything that you see me do for Penrith, Ive learnt from the Bulldogs, especially from Jim Dymock as well, being a former ball-playing forward, Latu told AAP.Its just a credit to the program and the system theyre doing over there.Theres some big bodies over there but with the help of (assistant coach) Kelly Egan and Dymock that are training them over there, theyre very skilful as well.Latu came through a stacked Bulldogs juniors side that a string of NRL graduates, including current Bulldogs Klemmer and halfback Moses Mbye.We were all part of the originals from Harold Matts and SG Ball, Latu said.However a series of injuries, including major foot, knee and shoulder surgery, stunted Latus development and it appeared as though he would be another prospect to fall through the cracks.He played no more than a dozen games in the under-20s, and remembered thinking his career was over before it began when he was told he was free to sniff offers outside the kennel at Canterbury.At the time, no clubs were interested in me, he recalled.But then I got a phone call from Phil Gould one day and he just said I see the potential in you and I want you to come play for us.Custom Packers Jersey China . 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With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season.Chris Gayle’s brutal power rendered Zimbabwe’s attack powerless as he smashed his way to the highest ever World Cup score, says Mark Butcher.Gayle – who had registered just one fifty in his previous 19 ODI innings – cut loose to score 215 off just 147 deliveries as the West Indies ran up 372-2, Marlon Samuels contributing 133no.The opener smote 16 sixes – the joint-highest ever in an ODI innings – as he registered the third highest ODI score ever and the best in the World Cup, eclipsing Gary Kirsten’s 188no for South Africa against UAE in 1996.“If ever Chris Gayle was going to show the ball-striking that we know he can produce, then it’s going to be against a bowling attack that at times was absolutely hapless,” reflected Butcher.“There was nothing they could do against it – they simply didn’t have the talent to be able to stop him. Once the ball started finding the middle of the bat on a regular basis, it was a case of ‘how many?’“There’s no better player to watch in full flight than Chris Gayle, simply because of the pure power of the man. He has an extraordinarily brutal way of hitting the ball, which renders bowlers powerless.“The confidence that the rest of the team will gain from the fact that it has not just been the guys at six, seven or eight that has dug them out of trouble, or lifted their scores past 300, will be enormous.“All of the rest of the teams in that group – and perhaps in the quarter-finals if they get there, which is looking increasingly likely – will be very, very concerned about the West Indies batting power.”Gayle was slow out of the blocks after the West Indies chose to bat, surviving a strong lbw shout off his first ball, bowled by Tinashe Panyangara.Umpire Steve Davis gave it not out and Zimbabwe’s subsequent review failed – the replay showing the decision should stay with the umpire’s call on the basis of height.Gayle then eased into his work, scoring just 12 runs off his first 18 balls – a fact that did not surprise Butcher.“If you follow Chris Gayle’s batting, particularly in Twenty20 cricket over the last one or two years, it is no shock that he takes a little while to get himself in,” he said.“He quite likes his partner at the other end to go out and take a few risks; he might chew up as many as 15-20 deliveries in a T20 ggame before he plays his first shot in anger and then he decides that he’s going to go big and play all of the expansive shots that we’ve seen.dddddddddddd#8220;The difference has been that in 50-over cricket he hasn’t been able to get in – he’s been taking his time but then getting out without making any runs.“Looking at the bowling attack you thought ‘if he gets himself in today, it could be the day’ - but it could have be all over after just one ball.“In real-time, looking head on, it looks as though he’s plumb lbw first ball but Gayle, batting against bowlers of very little pace, decided to take his guard outside of the crease; he took a stride forward and that’s why Steve Davis gave him the benefit of the doubt.”Gayles record-breaking knock came days after he was inadvertently caught up in a Twitter gaffe committed by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameron.“He’d been poked by Dave Cameron – the president of the West Indies Cricket Board – who re-tweeted somebody suggesting that Gayle ought to be sent for retirement,” explained Butcher.“This innings was a great answer to that particular accusation. If you are being questioned by people who are running your board, there ought to be a little bit of a sting there.“I don’t think that Chris Gayle has lost the ability to play like that over the years – perhaps what has been questioned is his desire to do it on a regular basis for the West Indies in longer form cricket or whether it was earning the bucks around the world in Twenty20 cricket that was floating his boat.”Gayle shared a partnership of 372 – the highest in ODI history - with number three Marlon Samuels, whose 133no came off 156 balls and featured 11 fours and three sixes.Butcher said it was a curious innings, reflecting: “He tried to give Gayle as much strike as possible – while trying to show the power that he has.“But to end up playing 53 per cent of your deliveries as dot balls against a bowling attack of this type - and basically having a strike-rate of about 50 per cent up until beyond the end of the 35th over – was quite extraordinary.“He’ll turn round and say ‘look, I ended up with 133no and we scored over 360, where’s your problem?’”Watch highlights of West Indies v Zimbabwe on Sky Sports World Cup at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 8pm. 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