The hardened resolve of the 2023 Brisbane Broncos will face a new test this Saturday night when the top-ranked team in the competition host the bottom-of-the-ladder Wests Tigers.
The new-look Tigers, including internationals Api Koroisau and John Bateman, have struggled to gel this season and are still without a win, but Brisbane forward Jordan Riki said there was no danger of complacency after the Tigers taught them a painful lesson in Round 20, with the loss part of an end-of-season fadeout which saw the side lose five of their following six games to fall out of finals contention.
"We are coming off a good start … but coming off the winning streak last year, we actually lost to these guys, so it's a really big focus for us, we just want to stay humble and stay hungry," Riki said.
"(This year) these guys have got great players all around the park and they've got good impact players coming off the bench too.
"We know that they're a dangerous side and these guys definitely taught us a lesson last year, so at the moment, we just want to obviously stay hungry and keep our heads down and keep moving forward."
The Tigers have also been a bit of a 'bogey side' for the Broncos of late, winning their past four games against Brisbane. With the hosts coming off a particularly physical derby match against the Dolphins; Riki agreed his side would need to take in a ruthless mindset into the Tigers game.
Match Highlights: Dolphins v Broncos
"That was a main indicator for us in the team meeting this morning," Riki - who will run out for his 50th NRL game on Saturday night - said.
"We were guilty of it last year, we were coming off I think it was eight or nine-game winning streak and then we came against the West Tigers probably feeling a bit too overconfident and they definitely stung us. And we don't want that to happen again."
Riki, who has been working particularly hard on his defence this season with assistant coach John Cartwright, said he had been also taking onboard tips from former Broncos enforcer Sam Thaiday on how to improve in that area of his game.
"It's been a huge work on for me over the pre-season, last year definitely I could have improved and I'm still trying to improve now," Riki said.
"I was coming off a shoulder surgery at the in the pre-season last year and this is my first pre-season getting through defensively. It's been a huge work-on for me and I've been pretty proud of my work ... I've also been in really close contact with Sam Thaiday as well.
"Defensively, he was amazing, so I've had quite a few chat with Sammy Thaiday and he's definitely been in my ear and he's a good laugh as well, so he helps me smell the roses around from footy."
Main Image: Jordan Riki at Tuesday's training session. Photo: Katarina Prosser / Brisbane Broncos
