A stern talking to from Wayne Bennett and some self-reflection helped Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow turn around a “disappointing” performance in Round 1 to collect his first career hat-trick against the Dragons.
A lacklustre team performance against the Cowboys was cast aside as the Dolphins recorded both their biggest win and first ever shutout in the 38-0 result, with the Hammer's sizzling hat-trick inflicting the most damage.
“When I scored the third try, I was pretty happy with myself,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“Obviously, it's a long time coming, scoring a hat-trick in the NRL, but pretty happy with that, it was just exciting.
“It was good to get the win, scoring those tries and the boys playing for each other.
“It's a big confidence boost for us, especially coming off last week."
Played in front of a full house, Dolphins fans were expecting an improved performance from their Round 1 showing, with Bennett having spoken to many players individually about expectations for the match.
Tabuai-Fidow also went back to basics with his own game and vowed to enjoy his football, freeing him up from pressure.
“It was a bit of a hard talk from Wayne. Obviously I wasn't happy with my performance, pretty disappointed,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“It was the first (proper roasting from Bennett), but I sort of took it as a positive to work on my game and just to get back to myself.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow hat-trick
“It was a good performance for myself, and obviously, I'm not going to stop there, I have got to keep going.
“I came into this week pretty switched on.
“(Did the work to) get back to myself and to get up and have fun.
“I think I am performing my best when I am enjoying it.
"This week was obviously hard week for us, coming off last week.
“But I just tried to go out and just have fun and just enjoy myself and I did that tonight and it shows how a performance turns out when I'm enjoying myself.”
Now boasting 18 tries in 22 games as a Dolphin, his tryscoring ability is fast becoming part of Phins folklore but it was the Hammer's defence that also earned high praise on Sunday.
With the game in the bag and the party in the stands in full swing, Tabuai-Fidow came up with a desperate save to deny Tyrell Sloan a consolation try for the Red V.
All Tries from Dolphins vs. Dragons
“It's pretty big for me to just try to compete on every play, whenever the time is and whatever tackle it is,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“I have been working on that in the pre-season; to stop tries as well.
“I think that's pretty important for the team, and I think the boys love it when, when stop tries like that.”
