“I think it’s just mentally; we talk about it as a team, it’s not being passive waiting for the game, or waiting for something to happen, or waiting for my teammate to do something,” he said.

“It’s going after the game, attacking it and not being afraid to get in and get dirty – whether it’s making the first contact or getting a touch early on in the game, or kicking to the corner.

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“It’s that first five minutes that sets the platform for me in the game and I felt like I did that really well.

[But] for me, it’s not about sitting cheering myself on. I’m going to go back to the drawing board, what worked for me and what I could get better at because there were a lot of things I did out there that I wasn’t exactly too happy with.”

Losing his halves partner Kodi Nikorima to concussion that day could have derailed Katoa.

Instead, he shouldered the burden, registering 484 kicking metres – twice his career average.

Mikaele Ravalawa, Zac Lomax and Tyrell Sloan were forced into heavy lifting coming out of their own end, and their forwards were unable to generate momentum.

No member of the Dragons’ pack ran for more than Blake Lawrie’s 79 metres, while Josh Kerr [157m], Felise Kaufusi [110m], Thomas Flegler [119m] and Euan Aitken [105m] all fired off Katoa’s game management.

Katoa knew it was a performance he needed. Bennett had already shown his hand: there would be no second chances in 2024.

He proved that following his outfit’s capitulation against the Cowboys, as O’Sullivan and centre Tesi Niu suffered the repercussions.

Katoa admits that thought lingered in the back of his mind – the trick was ensuring he “didn’t let it fluster” him.

“[Bennett’s] been pretty ruthless with us this year just making sure that we’re performing and if we’re not, he’s not going to reward us by keeping us in the team.

“[But] he didn’t put any pressure on me, he just wanted me to go out there, take control of the team, make sure I got my defence right and kicked well. All the other stuff just came as the game went on.”

The coach’s cutthroat approach has made Katoa acutely aware he must remain a focal point of the Dolphins’ attack for Saturday’s clash with the Titans – particularly with two-time Queensland Maroon Anthony Milford determined to prove his best days were not behind him.

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Previously lauded as one of the game’s brightest talents, Milford’s career had been at a crossroads.

Form and injuries have limited the 29-year-old to just 24 appearances in the past two years.

But this preseason, Milford has looked reborn.

Seen at the club’s Redcliffe training base, he was lean, fast and eager before suffering a hamstring injury.

“This preseason I reckon is the best I’ve seen him before he did his hammy. He was right in the mix and running amok on the field, as we’ve seen before,” his teammate Kaufusi said.

Off contract at season’s end, Bennett was at his blunt, unapologetic best when pressed on Milford’s future.

“He can’t do much with his career until he gets his hamstring right,” the coach replied.

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“Get his hamstring right, and we will talk about his career.”

Milford has been slowly working his way back to full training, and it has gotten to a stage where, according to Katoa, all he needed was an injection of belief.

“Honestly, I think it’s a bit more of a confidence thing, especially because he actually killed it over the preseason,” Katoa said.

“He dropped a lot of weight, he was a lot fitter, his numbers in the gym were amazing.

“To see him wanting to get back into the competition in the halves has been awesome, and I think it only makes us all better.”