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Arnie to watch tough tanks in Melbourne

A band of burly strongmen has rolled into Melbourne to try their hand at pulling an eight-tonne tank, in a show of Terminator-like strength in front of movie megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The former California governor and bodybuilding legend will cast his eye over 11 strongmen vying to set a world-record time for the fastest 10-metre tank pull on Saturday.

Australia's strongest man Eddie Williams, one of the World of Tanks PC Tank Pull entrants, said the camouflaged, armoured war vehicle would throw an "eight-tonne spanner" in the works for each of the brawny competitors.

"This is completely new," the 185kg, 195cm man mountain told AAP ahead of the Arnold Sports Festival event.

"I've done a 10-tonne truck, but that's on wheels so once you get it started it just rolls with you.

"The tank's a whole different ball game. It's almost like you have to be pulling with max effort the entire time."

Despite revving up the engine with a few warm-up events on Friday, Williams vowed to leave some fuel in the tank to move the humungous FV102 Striker with the added pressure of Schwarzenegger's burning Terminator glare upon him.

"Arnold's up there with people that influenced me to work hard," he said.

"I met him last year … I was fan-girling him hard."

As a youth support worker in NSW, the 27-year-old has only been competing professionally on the strongman circuit for the past two years and admitted there was more than just silverware on the line.

"I'll get some major brownie points with my students. After pulling a tank … anything I say goes now," said Williams, who gained selection for the event by winning a domestic strongman competition.

The young father-of-two, who comes from a rugby league background and sculpts his mega-frame through hours of gym work each week, is dedicating his tank-pull performance to his young cousin, who perished in a car crash last week.

Australian Associated Press

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Margaret River Mail

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