Ready to rumble in Battle for Brisbane

Dolphins Prop Daniel Saifiti says the Battle for Brisbane has come at the right time for the club keen to kick-start their 2025 NRL campaign with a win in round four.

The Dolphins will take on the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium for the highly anticipated game, expected to attract about 45,000 footy fans on Friday night (kick-off 7pm).

“We know it’s going to be a hard task, but we’ve spoken about just taking it day by day. We had a good training session and I think that will put us in good stead for Friday night,” Saifiti says.

“I think it’s come at a perfect time this game. Zero from three, backs against the wall … we’ve just got to go after it.”

Saifiti says watching the genuine rivalry between the two clubs during the past two seasons, while he was still at the Knights, and wanting to be part of it, was a big factor in his decision to come to the Dolphins.

Head Coach Kristian Woolf has named an unchanged team for the blockbuster.

Woolf will be expecting improvement from the squad as they continue to gel early in the season, especially with Jack Bostock and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki playing their second games back from injury.

The Dolphins will be fired up to secure their first win of the 2025 season, after a bumpy and disrupted start. This week’s clash comes after a 30-18 loss to the Tigers at Redcliffe last Saturday night.

“I think it’s more of a whole team effort. I think across the park, more defensively than attack, we probably need to improve,” Saifiti says.

“At the end of the day, they (the Tigers) scored 30 points. I don’t think that’s not got to do with forwards’ metres but could we improve in that area, sure.”

So, what was the coach’s message to the squad today?

“We just spoke about we’re zero (from) three, we’re down in the dumps, but if the whole season was a marathon 42km … we’re only five or six kilometres in,” Saifiti says.

“It’s a good way of looking at it. Instead of getting down in the dumps and feeling sorry for ourselves, we’ve got to attack it and like I said I think this Battle of Brisbane has come at a perfect time.

“That is disheartening that we’ve beaten ourselves but, at the same time, we can control that. (If) we just get that mental edge and we go after games at the end … if we pull through and stick with each other, I think results will turn and we’ll start getting the wins and banking them up.

“I think we’ve just got to start well on Friday night and go from there … take it minute by minute, step by step.”

What about DCE?

Would Saifiti welcome Daly Cherry-Evans to the team if he made the move to the Dolphins from the Sea Eagles?

“I think if you ask any player in the NRL, I think they’d love to play with him. Whether he’s here or not, that’s not up to me. I’m not in recruitment but as I said, I’d love to play with him,” he says.

Saifiti says Cherry-Evans hasn’t lost his step and he’s silky with the ball, but his leadership is what makes him a great player.

“You see the way he talks off the field, that’s the way he is on the field. When I hear him when I’m in defence, I hear him barking orders. If he’s here, amazing, if he’s not … we’ve got young and upcoming halves that will do the job.”

He says Isaiya Katoa had been one of the team’s best players in recent weeks, but working with someone like Daly Cherry Evans would take his game to the next level.