2023 review: Dolphins

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Our 2023 season review series, club-by-club, continues today with Kelly Hollis looking at the league's newest club - the Dolphins.

Before a ball had even been kicked, rugby league pundits had been arguing whether the Dolphins would sink or swim.

The media closely followed the recruitment drive that was spearheaded by Wayne Bennett and as marquee-player after marquee-player turned down opportunities to move to Redcliffe and don the Dolphins' jersey, questions were raised about whether the super coach had what he needed to create a dominant football side.

After piecing together their 30-man squad, the Dolphins made a splash in their inaugural match. The the NRL season with an emphatic win over the Sydney Roosters in front of over 30,000 spectators at Suncorp Stadium. The fairytale continued with a victory over the Canberra Raiders and a third-round win against the Newcastle Knights. With a 3-0 start to the season, rugby league fans across the country were all shouting ‘Phins Up!'. 

The following weeks saw the team ride the rollercoaster of the rugby league season, experiencing the highs of second-half comebacks and heartbreaking one-point defeats. It was in Round 10 when the joy returned, the team from Redcliffe thrashing the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in a 36-16 Magic Round win at Suncorp Stadium, in what was possibly their best game of the year, showcasing the debut of young Valynce Te Whare who instantly rocketed to rugby league cult status!

That magic, however, was only short-lived when the 'Phins were decimated by injury, and went on to win only three of their remaining 14 games. The team had lost Jeremy Marshall-King for a number of weeks with a shoulder injury and Tom Gilbert suffered a season-ending injury during his Origin campaign. These key injuries, along with niggles for other players, saw the Dolphins' depth tested and unfortunately, it didn't meet that test. The Dolphins had one last opportunity to celebrate ‘Phins Up!' when they beat a fast-finishing Warriors in the final round of the year in front of a sizeable home crowd at Suncorp Stadium.

Turning point

Heading into the Round 15 game against the Manly Sea Eagles, the Dolphins were 7 - 7 and sitting in 8th position. A trip to 4 Pines Park turned out not to be a good one for the side from Redcliffe, with Manly running in ten tries to three to ruin the side's even standing on the table.

Bennett was quoted as saying ‘We need to make sure that's our last bad day', but unfortunately, it wasn't. From that point on the team was only victorious on two more occasions and they never returned to the top eight.

What worked

Although the Dolphins are the new kids on the NRL block, their predecessor Redcliffe was born in 1947 and had a lot of eager fans waiting to see their region take the field in the NRL.

Runners-up in the 2022 Queensland Cup, the team was joining the ‘big boys' with a mixture of experience and raw talent. The opportunity to play the Sydney Roosters in the inaugural ‘Arthur Beetson Cup' in Round 1 at Suncorp gave over 30,000 Dolphins supporters the opportunity to get their Phins Up!. A win in this game kick-started their season and made the league stand up and take notice of the newest club.

What didn't work

Although the Dolphins came out of the blocks firing, losing key players in Marshall-King and Gilbert for extended periods of time meant that the clubs' depth was tested early in their existence. Being a new side that struggled to recruit in the year leading up to Round 1, the lack of players with first-grade experience was not kind to the team.

Needing to rely on development players and players with minimal experience at the top level, the side only experienced three wins in the final 14 games and only one in the last 12.

2023 week-by-week

Best players

Fullback Jamayne Isaako reunited with his first NRL coach and produced the season of his career. Playing every game of the year, he scored 24 tries in 24 games including five doubles and two hat tricks. Combining this with a 72.3% conversion rate, Isaako not only finished the top try scorer in the league, but he was also crowned the top point scorer with 244 points. This made him the first player to be awarded both accolades in the same season since Mal Meninga in 1990.

To wrap up a stellar 2023 season, Isaako has confirmed his long-term future, signing a three-year extension that will see him remain at Redcliffe until the end of the 2026 season.

Rookies

Valynce Te Whare debuted in Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the centres. At 23, Te Whare is not your usual NRL centre physique, but man could the kid play. In his debut match, he scored two tries and quickly became a fan favourite of not only Dolphins supporters but rugby league fans everywhere.

After his debut he played 11 of the 14 remaining games and scored another 4 tries, bringing his season tally to 6 tries in 12 games. The young centre is contracted to the Dolphins for another season, so it will be great to see how he continues to improve as time goes on.

Disappointing players

It's hard to point out individual players, but when the coach is questioning the integrity and commitment of a player with Anthony Milford's experience it's hard not to list him in this category.

With over 200 appearances under his belt, Milford should have been leading from the front, inspiring his teammates and controlling the team from the halves. Instead, he arrived for pre-season out of shape and was in and out of the side throughout the year as he was unable to lock down a regular start.

2023 player list

32 players, Average age 26.49 yrs

Season snapshot

Coach: Wayne Bennett
Captains: Jesse Bromwich (24), Felise Kaufusi (2), Mark Nicholls (1)

Biggest home crowd: 51,047 (vs. Brisbane in round 4)
Average home crowd: 25,589

Top pointscorer: Jamayne Isaako (244)
Top tryscorer: Jamayne Isaako (24)

Club awards

• Adventure Kings Fan-Voted MVP - Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
• Academic Award - Euan Aitken
• Rookie of the Year - Isaiya Katoa
• Best Back - Jamayne Isaako
• Best Forward - Mark Nicholls
• Most Consistent - Jamayne Isaako
• Players' Player - Jamayne Isaako
• Club Person of the Year - Shane Morris
• Arthur Beetson Medal Player of the Year - Jamayne Isaako

Looking ahead

Bennett has done well in recruiting for the 2024 season bringing Herbie Farnworth and Tom Fleger across from the Broncos and young centre, Jake Averillo, from the Bulldogs. Each of these recruits has extensive NRL experience, helping to improve the Dolphins' depth greatly. 20-year-old second-rower Oryn Keeley from the Newcastle system will also pull on a Dolphins jersey in the second row after joining the side until 2026. 

It has been confirmed that Herman Ese'ese, Brenko Lee, Oliver Gildart and Poasa Faamausili will not be returning to Redcliffe for the 2024 season, while three other players are off-contract at this stage. Bennett will no doubt want to continue to develop the depth of his squad to avoid a similar result in their second season.

2024 Round 1 lineup

based on current signings at time of writing

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
2. Jamayne Isaako
3. Jake Averillo
4. Herbie Farnworth
5. Jack Bostock
6. Kodi Nikorima
7. Sean O'Sullivan
8. Jesse Bromwich
9. Jeremy Marshall-King 
10. Tom Flegler
11. Connelly Lemuelu
12. Felise Kaufusi
13. Tom Gilbert

14. Valynce Te Whare
15. Jarrod Wallace
16. Mark Nicholls
17. Kenny Bromwich