League or union, Kangaroos or Wallabies, they all love him. League or union, Kangaroos or Wallabies, they all love him. Image: Getty Images

Do you dare sledge them?

They say don’t wake the sleeping giant … It’s like what they used to do with Mal Meninga: whenever he ran the ball everyone would say, "Oh, great run Mal, top hit Mal.” You just don’t want to wake some of those blokes up because they can rip through you. I’m good mates with Beau Ryan at the Tigers and he asked Taniela one day what he was going to do if Dell sledged him. And Taniela goes, “I don’t know … I think I might just smile at him with my gold teeth … ” Yeah, I pick my mark, but, really, no one’s safe around me. I’m always happy to cop it back – Willie (Mason) and I have had a few good ones.

What’s your most recent spat with Willie?

Well, last time we played the Roosters I was wearing a GPS. Willie sees it and stands up in this scrum and says, “Dell, what are you doing with a GPS on?” And I wasn’t real happy with the start of my game, so I said nothing. But in the second half I made a few good runs and scored that try where I did the moonwalk. After that I looked across at Willie – he’s standing there with his head down – and I said, “Hey, Willie! Can you come over here and check my GPS? Just want to know how many metres I’ve made today.” He just told me to eff off.

Is there a bloke you’ve hated playing against?

I wouldn’t say “hated”, but Adam MacDougall and I have had a good rivalry. “Doogs” might have a couple of ordinary weeks, but he’d always save his best games for me. Whether that’s respect or he wants my mantle, I don’t know, but we had a lot of heated exchanges. I love the way he comes at me and vice versa.