Saifiti says 'down in the dumps' Dolphins ready to strike in derby

Prop Daniel Saifiti says the ‘Battle for Brisbane’ comes at right time for Dolphins after they let slip their opportunity to post an opening win against Wests Tigers.

Now 0-3 to start the season after allowing the visitors to claw back an 18-6 deficit to steal a spirited win, Saifiti said while the squad were disappointed with their losing start to the season, they had time on their side to turn things around.

“We’re 0-3, we’re down in the dumps, if the whole season was a marathon of 42km we’re only five or six ks into it (and) instead of getting down in the dumps and sorry for ourselves, we’ve got to attack it,” Saifiti said.

“I think this Battle for Brisbane has come at a perfect time, our backs are against the wall and we’ve just got to go after it. 

“It’s disheartening (to have beaten ourselves), but at the same time, we can control that as well.

“If we get that mental edge and go after games at the end, I think we pull through and stick with each other. I think results will turn, we’ll start getting wins and banking them up. 

“I think it’s come at the perfect time, this game. The Battle for Brisbane, down 0-3, not many people are giving us a chance, so I think it’s come at the right time.”

They face a Broncos side that were inspired to victory against the Cowboys last week by some individual brilliance from skipper Adam Reynolds and rampaging prop Payne Haas, who Saifiti and co will need to shut down if they are to upset their rivals.

The Raiders in their upset Round 2 victory showed the blueprint on how to lessen the impact of the representative stars in their pack including Haas and Pat Carrigan, with Saifiti saying the squad had studied the lessons from that game.

“We did a lot of video on that game, and they’re a tough pack Canberra and sort of ambushed them with that herd mentality,” Saifiti said.

“That’s something we can definitely take a lot of points from, but they’ve got a different pack than us. We can add our own spin to it and do it together.

“I think everything, no matter if it’s forwards or backs, we’ve got to play together and take confidence from that. 

“They’re a physical pack, they’re big and real athletic, so they’re one of those teams where if you let them get the jump on you, they’ll run riot like we saw against the Roosters.

“Canberra showed the blueprint, they’re a tough team, and we’ve just got to focus on ourselves. 

“I think there’s been periods in games this year where our forwards have played really well –that’s not saying any boys haven’t – but we just have to control what we can control in the forward pack whether it’s line speed, aggression, and let the halves control how many points we win by.

“We have to do our job in the middle, and I think we have the troops here.”

Saifiti was one of the best of the Dolphins forwards in their loss to Wests Tigers – helping to set up a try – and he is also leading his forwards for metres made so far this season with 422.

A past Origin teammate of Haas, Saifiti was also looking forward to the personal challenge of facing off against his in-form friend.

“It’s a good challenge, Payno’s a good mate of mine and I always enjoy playing against him,” Saifiti said.

“It’s all love, but for that 80 minutes we’ll be trying to lead our teams and shake hands and hug after the game.”