Dragons front-rower Russell Packer is embracing a 'nothing to lose' mentality ahead of his impending battle with Storm co-captain Jesse Bromwich on Saturday night.
In a stark comparison to how their careers have gone, Packer's lone Test for New Zealand is no match for Bromwich's 18 games (and counting) with him also the incumbent Kiwis skipper.
Packer also spoke about the Dragons' disappointment in letting the Bulldogs run all over them last Monday – where they conceded 470 more metres.
"You see the work Jesse gets through in a game and the things he does for the team and you realise he is a massive part of the Storm and why they have been so successful," Packer said.
"We have to do our best on him. That won't be easy. Up against most clubs he plays, he gets his team on the front foot so he'll pose a massive challenge for us.
"We have to work together as a team and get up in his face. We were disappointed by the yardage the Bulldogs put on us as a whole so as a team it comes back on us to improve.
"We have nothing to lose against the Storm - so I'm pretty sure we'll turn up on Saturday."
Veteran fullback Jason Nightingale said the Dragons failed to contend with the game's see-sawing nature against the Bulldogs – including Tony Williams's controversial try assist for Will Hopoate.
"Obviously the result was very disappointing. We had a couple of momentum swings in that game that we weren't up to which played a big part in it," Nightingale said.
"Sometimes we had things swing in our favour and gained some energy from that but then it was easily taken away by their good play. The way we reacted to things going against us is something we need to get better at."
Josh Dugan also returned to the training paddock on Wednesday afternoon albeit with a heavily strapped elbow.
"It looked like he was trying to get some k's in his legs," Nightingale noted. "Hopefully he'll be back next week which will be great for us."
