Herbie Farnworth has four key orders of business to attend to over the next two months.
One, get his traditional elite preparation with six training poles nutted out with a couple of "new moves" in the pipeline. Two, lead the Dolphins to a maiden NRL premiership. Three, win the World Cup with England. Four, get his next contract sorted.
Talk to Dolphins insiders and they will tell you the cool, calm and collected star centre marches to the beat of his own drum when it comes to contracts. He gets to it when he gets to it.
For instance, when Farnworth re-signed until the end of 2027 he did it hours before leaving for England to join the Ashes squad last year. He always intended to sign, but had to be prodded a few times.
A hasty meeting at a café in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton was convened, close to the international airport, and the deal was seamlessly done.
"That is just the way I roll," Farnworth told AAP, when reminded of how the deal went down.
"It looked like it was going to work. It felt right … so I decided.
"I’m not an over-thinking type of person. I don't really put too much attention on my contracts. I feel like my job is to play footy. If I am doing that right, contracts take care of themselves.
“I let my manager do all the work, which is good."
Farnworth, a free agent from November 1, has quashed links to the Sydney Roosters several times. He is straight forward about his desire to stay at the Dolphins under coach Kristian Woolf and when he will address his next deal.
“All my energy and focus is on the finals series and when the time is right we will talk,” Farnworth said.
“I have told the Dolphins that I want to put it off until after we are done playing, hopefully in the grand final ... and even better if it’s after the World Cup final.
"I love the boys here. We have got a great crew. Woolfy has had a great year and all the boys look up to him. It's all about really high standards and you have to toe the line.
"We really want to go after this finals series as a team and we feel like we have got the players and roster to win it."
Farnworth estimates conservatively he has done his own individual footwork, speed and evasion drills with six training poles three times a week for the last 18 years.
That’s 2778 times. Days out from Saturday’s qualifying final against the Warriors in Auckland he had the poles out, fine tuning the skills that make him the most elusive man in the NRL.
"I do it because it works,” Farnworth grinned.
“It is something I have been doing since I was eight years old. It is a good start to my prep and mindset.
“I don't think it is any secret now. You see me after training sessions working on parts of my game with my footwork, coming off either foot.
“I am still working on some new things that I hope to bring out in the finals series and show you guys.”
