No half measures as Nikorima looks to level up in quest for finals

“I think for us, we want to be one of the best halves pairings in the game and that starts out here in the training paddock,” Nikorima said.

“One of the key things that I want to work on this pre-season is my fitness levels and obviously building on what I did last year.

“I got some more growth in my attack and (I want to) continue to work on my defence too, so, although I am happy with how I performed last year, I still believe I can hopefully go to another level next year.”

Entering his 13th NRL pre-season, Nikorima said his main goal for next year however was to help lift the Dolphins to a maiden finals appearance, with the team just missing out again in 2025 after multiple long-term injuries derailed their promising start to the season.

“Obviously we want to continue to build on what we've built on for the last couple of years,” Nikorima said.

“That's one of the goals I think every year, but more so now this year, especially with our squad that we have.

“If we can stay injury free, I believe we have a team here that can do something special in the finals.

“But I guess we don't want to look too far ahead, I think we've got to take it week-by-week and that starts when we first started back.

“Not thinking too far ahead to Round 1, making sure we get through and enough out of this pre-season, get ourselves fit and strong and come (back) in January ready to go.”

In the team’s favour is the positive injury news for a number of key forwards, including Thomas Fleger who is targeting a remarkable Round 1 return, as well as representative duo Tom Gilbert and Daniel Saifiti.

The club’s 2024 player of year Max Plath is also recovering from his ACL injury, with star back Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who missed the Pacific Championships with an MCL injury, set to return for the season opener.

“For myself, it creates excitement knowing that I can play off the back of these forwards … that we dearly missed last year and just fell short,” Nikorima said.

“Maybe if we had one or two of them last year, things could have been different, but I guess that is what it is, we're moving forward now …

“I just hope they can all come back injury free and get through the season.”

Nikorima was also excited to see the presence of former Broncos back Selwyn Cobbo in Dolphins' colours. Set to start on the wing to start next season with 2024 NRL Rookie of the Year Jack Bostock not expected back from his ACL injury until Round 10, Cobbo was looking fit and firing in his opening stint at training.

“He's a freak of nature, Selwyn,” Nikorima said.

“He's one of those players that you give them the ball and they can do something from it.

“I'm glad he's in our team now. Obviously, we have someone like Hammer, Herbie [Farnworth], and then you're throwing in a Selwyn Cobbo, so there's going to be strike all over the park.”