Salford Red Devils centre Tim Lafai explains what goes through his head when he gets the ball

It’s safe to say Tim Lafai is one of the most dangerous players in Super League.

He’s taken to life in Super League masterfully and is something of a wrecking ball. When he gets going, he tends to fend off tackles left right and centre. This coupled with his ability to offload makes him a potent attacking weapon in Salford’s arsenal as he not only creates tries for himself with his barnstorming carries but often paves the way for teammates to score tries.

This is perhaps why he was included in the Super League Dream Team this season and rightly so. He became the 202nd player in history to be included in the Dream Team and it’s no surprise given he is perhaps the best player when it comes to ploughing through tackles in the league.

Just go back and watch his performance against St Helens. The Saints have been the best defensive side in Super League for years yet Lafai almost on his own ripped them to pieces with one of the all time great individual performances in Super League history.

It led Salford to inflicting St Helens’ worst defeat in six years and he has backed it up with terrific performances throughout the season and he’ll be hoping to do something similar against the Saints in this weekend’s semi-finals especially with the Champions set to be without key players like Alex Walmsley.

Such a mesmeric player with the ball in his hands and taking on tacklers, we asked him what goes through his mind when he receives the ball and is faced with an attacking opportunity.

“For me I love competing,” Lafai said, “So when it comes to that physical side of things, it’s do your best to get me down and I’ll do my best to keep going.

“If you want to take me down you’ve got to bring everything.”

There have been some centres who have tested him this season with Lafai giving praise to Huddersfield’s Leroy Cudjoe and Leeds’ “special” Harry Newman who Lafai believes is very similar to him.

When asked which centres have tested him, Lafai said: “There’s been a few centres. Fortunately Shaun Kenny-Dowall is on the other side. Leroy Cudjoe is a great centre, someone who always keeps me on my toes and the young one at Leeds, Harry Newman.

“I see a lot of a young me in him. He’s going to be something special.”