SHANE ELFORD is his own man.
That's not to say the Wests Tigers right centre, who has the daunting task tonight of marking the Bulldogs' elusive Willie Tonga at Campbelltown Stadium, is not a team player.
But after eight seasons at Penrith he is forthright, knowledgeable and experienced enough to know what the joint-venture club needs to be successful.
"I think we got a little carried away earlier in the year, thinking after we won a few games in a row, that we were going to stroll to the semis," Elford said.
"We got ahead of ourselves but in the past couple of weeks have concentrated not so much on who we are playing and it seems to be working.
"If we go forward and get our kicking right we'll be okay. Some of the guys have just got to realise that, and I think they are slowly. Footy is a basic game."
The Tigers' season has been punctuated by inconsistency. During a heady period, which included a surprising 30-26 win over the Bulldogs in round 11, the club won three successive matches.
Then after travelling across the Tasman to trounce the Warriors 50-4 the club lost four in row and suffered the indignity of a 50-0 loss to St George Illawarra and 56-0 humbling by the Sydney Roosters before a record crowd of 18,669 at Campbelltown.
"The Dragons and the Roosters ran hot and can do that to anybody. We turned up to play and when things didn't go well early maybe the Tigers of the past came through and we thought we might pack it in a bit," Elford said.
"We have to hang in there for 80 minutes and build pressure. It's an attitude thing and the guys are finally realising that ... we have a wide range of players here with guys who have played more than 200 games and others who have played under 20."
Penrith's remarkable transformation from wooden spooners to premiers, within two years, has shown Elford what can be done. And he sees no reason why the joint-venture club can't break its cycle of under-achievement.
"It's really an attitude and cultural thing at the club. We had new administration and coaches at the club (Penrith). In fact the whole staff was new, plus they had a heap of kids coming through who had come from winning cultures in the juniors and they got into grade and brought that winning mentality with them.
"After a while if you lose a few games, whether you mean it or not, you have that losing mentality and I think it's similar here at the Tigers.
"You actually get used to losing but with the new players here like Brett Hodgson, Jason Moodie and Pat Richards, all having been successful at Parramatta, 'Satts' (Scott Sattler) having won a grand final (Penrith) and Nick Graham having played in the finals at Cronulla it brought a winning mentality along.
"We won the sevens at the start of the year and we thought 'how good is this' but we hit the wall and got carried away. People then thought winning would just come, but it shows you have to keep grinding away.
"But the guys are pretty level headed. These kids are talented, the Tigers are building and the club is going forward."
But Elford, who has resurrected his career after languishing in reserve grade for the majority of last season following the emergence of the likes of Luke Lewis and Luke Rooney at the Panthers, knows the fact that the Tigers have won their past two matches against the Bulldogs will mean little when the teams meet tonight.
Dennis Scott's ongoing foot injury is the Bulldogs' only concern. A decision on whether he takes his place on the bench won't be made until late this afternoon. Scott yesterday agreed to a two-year contract with Melbourne Storm.
Tonga's confidence has grown since his elevation to the Queensland Origin team while the selection of Sonny Bill Williams and Johnathan Thurston in premier league reaffirms the second-placed Bulldogs' depth leading up to the semi-finals.
Elford is looking forward to his match-up with Tonga.
"He is in good form, he's very deceptive on his feet and quite quick.
"I am looking forward to it. I played against him earlier in the year and he's a bit of a handful.
"Sherwin's kicking game is dangerous. Tonga and Hazem El Masri are good on the edges, but they have a virtual State of Origin pack so you can't concentrate on anyone ... you just have to be on your game."
The Tigers will be without veteran skipper Darren Senter who strained a hamstring in the final minutes of the team's 32-18 win over Melbourne Storm last Saturday night.
The experienced Robbie Mears is his replacement at hooker while Anthony Laffranchi moves from the bench to Mark O'Neill's place in the second-row. Bronson Harrison takes a spot on the bench.
The Australian
