Stone: ‘We’ve just got to win’

Dolphins NRL hardman Ray Stone is not concerning himself with the mathematical probability of his team making the finals, saying it’s pretty simple: ‘we’ve just got to win’ against the Storm on Saturday.

The Dolphins, who are coming off a 30-10 loss to the Bulldogs last week, are just outside the top eight on ninth and desperate to stay in the hunt for a maiden finals berth.

They face Melbourne Storm on Saturday in round 25 of the competition at AAMI Park (kick off 5.30pm).

It will be the first time the Dolphins have played the Storm in Melbourne, and the last time former Storm co-captain and now Dolphins captain Jesse Bromwich will play there before retiring at the end of the 2024 season.

The match is the second meeting of the two clubs this season, with the Dolphins falling short by six points at Suncorp Stadium in round 16.

Melbourne are on top of the ladder, four points ahead of the Penrith Panthers.

Stone knows it will be tough game, but one they must win to stay in finals contention.

“They’re the best team in the comp, so we’re pretty much preparing for that, but I think we’re more focused on ourselves,” he says.

“The last couple of weeks haven’t been our best. The effort’s there and we’re trying really hard. I think it’s the execution we’ve got to get right. There’s a big focus on that this week.

“The last few weeks we’ve had a lot of top-of-the-table – we’ve had Penrith, Bulldogs ... some of the best teams in the comp. We’ve been matching with them for a lot of it. It’s another tough game (against Melbourne) but we’ve got to get through it and do what we can to win.

“They’re pretty good defensively. They work hard. I don’t really know the ins and outs of why they’re so good, but they keep winning. We’ve just got to be on our game.”

Stone concedes his side is still struggling to maintain focus, momentum and discipline for 80 minutes, which has proved costly in recent weeks.

“For us it’s just about completing our sets, I think, this week and completing our defensive sets as well ... not making those penalties and being a lot more disciplined, and winning tackles as well,” he says.

They will need to get it right, with just three rounds of the regular season left. Stone says it would be disappointing to miss the finals.

“It would be, but we’re not thinking about that. We’re just thinking of this week, get the win this week and that puts us in contention of making finals. Our goal is to make finals but to do that, you’ve got to win games and it starts this week,” he says.

“A lot of the talk is we’ve just got to win. If we win, we’re going to make finals. We’ve still got a decent for and against, so as long as we’re getting two points every week, we’ll make finals.

“It’s just getting that done, getting the job done this week and back it up again next week and go from there.”