Matt Timoko starts by outlining his desire to become one of the NRL's elite defenders and then tells you: "To be the best, you've got to beat the best."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Which is fitting, because this weekend he quite literally takes on the Best - of the Bradman variety.
Star centres Timoko and Best will go head-to-head when the Canberra Raiders face the Newcastle Knights at a full house in an elimination final on Sunday.
If Timoko wanted a chance to prove himself in defence, opportunities don't get much better than this.
Best scored two tries in his State of Origin debut this year and has established himself as one of the most imposing centres in the game. On his outside stands Greg Marzhew, who has scored 20 tries in as many games and leads the league in tackle breaks with 171 - 31 clear of Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards in second.
MORE SPORT:
Oh, and feeding them the ball is Kalyn Ponga, whose form is matching his pay packet and even led premiership coach Michael Hagan to liken his impact on the Knights to that of Andrew Johns in the halcyon days.
With Canberra's season on the line, that's just how Timoko likes it.
"The tougher games are always the easiest ones to get up for, especially when you've got quality opposition," Timoko said.
"Bradman has had a really outstanding year this year, he had his NSW debut and he played well in that game. Coming up against that calibre of players makes me excited.
"I'm coming up against the best of the best, and if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best, that's the saying. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
"We've got a lot of threats down that edge, we've got Bradman and Greg Marzhew, who have both been really strong for the Knights this year. Obviously Ponga loves attacking down that edge as well so we've got a lot of threats coming down there.
"It's going to be important, to not only negate them, but to shut down their time. Attacking players of that calibre love having time on their hands, so we'll have to get up in their face and shut them down. It all starts from the boys controlling the middle.
"In previous years, we've let teams get a bit more freedom coming down our edge. We're getting up and negating teams attack with our line speed. That's one thing I've improved on this year."
On the other side of the ball, Timoko has Best's measure for line breaks and tackle breaks so far this year. Numbers don't always tell an entire story, but they give enough to suggest this clash could go some way to deciding Sunday's result.
Because Timoko has also enjoyed the best season of his short NRL career, playing every game - one of only two Raiders to do so alongside Emre Guler - and finishing third in the Mal Meninga Medal count.
"I've really enjoyed this year. Something I took away from last year was I just wanted to be better than I was last year," Timoko said.
"I feel like I've improved a lot this year, in attack and defence, but at the same time there is still a long way to go.
"We'll play out the rest of the season and hopefully enjoy that, but at the same time I'm looking forward to continuing to grow in the off-season and trying to have another big pre-season."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram