Ese'ese looking to recapture his best form under Bennett

As one of the more experienced members of the forward pack set to feature for the Dolphins next season, Herman Ese’ese is hoping to recapture the form he displayed when he last played under coach Wayne Bennett.

Ese’ese – who since making his NRL debut with the Bulldogs in 2015 has featured for the Newcastle Knights and played for the Brisbane Broncos under Bennett – spoke to media at Moreton Daily Stadium yesterday and said he was enjoying being back in action on the training paddock.  

“It’s good to get back into preseason with the boys, and especially coming back here in Brissie being under Wayne again,” Ese’ese said. “And being a new club in the NRL, really looking forward to getting a good preseason under our belt and go from there. 

“It kind of feels like home now, being back home … being back under Wayne and [wanting to be] playing my best footy again … and I want to find that form and I know Wayne is the man to get that out of me, so I'm really looking forward to it.”

When he was at Broncos, the former New Zealand and Samoa international said he had senior players around him to guide him and push his to his best form, and that was a role he wanted to take on at his new club.

“I think the playing group I had around me … you know, I was only turning 21 years old and having guys like Corey Parker and Matt Gillett, Sam Thaiday and Alex Glenn and that, I had a lot of senior boys to look up to and to learn from, so they kind of progressed my playing skills on the field,” Ese’ese said.

“Now that I'm a lot older now and I kind of have to take that responsibility on now, I am 28 years old now. So yeah, I think probably the experience learning from those senior boys (helped a lot).”

Nathan Fien, who alongside Tonga coach Kristian Woolf will serve as an assistant coach to Bennett, said that Ese’ese’s experience was vital to share with the broader playing group, especially the forwards.

“We've got some really good experience, you know. Obviously with the Bromwich boys (Jesse and Kenny) and (Felise) Kaufusi that are coming,” Fien said.

“But you know some of the other boys, like Jarrod Wallace and Herman, who've been around a little bit.

"I guess it's a second coming for them and an opportunity to really stamp themselves as a good forward in this competition and we'll definitely be relying on those guys to do their job up front.

“Hopefully that'll give us enough go forward for a bit of momentum to be able to create some things on the outside.”

Speaking about Ese’ese, who has been working on his fitness to achieve his ideal playing weight, Fien said he was looking forward to seeing him continue to develop his leadership amongst the group.

“Oh look, he's a monster of man, isn't he? You know he’s experienced, and you could just see out there in that first session, just his talk with some of the younger, more inexperienced players, he can just bring them up and sort of set the standard there,” Fien said.