Dolphins' physical performance signals emergence as NRL force

It was the hit that did more than rattle Brandon Smith’s rib cage and left him writhing on the ground in pain; it signalled a fledgling NRL juggernaut was getting ready to emerge.

When the Dolphins headed into their first game in 2023, fans and pundits across the rugby league landscape were left questioning whether they would ever register a win, given their unsuccessful attempts to lure marquee talent.

Inaugural prop Mark Nicholls recalled training in a gym under the Redcliffe stadium grandstand and being left without a video room, adding to their underdog status.

But that was the position coach Wayne Bennett wanted to be in. And when Felise Kaufusi charged out of the defensive line and laid on one of the hits of the season as Smith went to pass, setting up a shock 28-18 triumph over the Sydney Roosters, the competition was on notice.

“All of a sudden, the crowd was in the game, and when someone in your team can put on a play like that, it turns momentum. It’s inspiring, and on the back of that, we went into the sheds at half-time pretty confident of where we were going,” Nicholls told this masthead.

“The club had been criticised for their jerseys, criticised for their recruitment, the squad was too old, there were no star players. But Wayne loves that; to be put in the underdog position by the outsiders is where Wayne does his best work.

“From that point on, I sort of knew there was a special thing here. We told the fans what we were about, and the league.”

Nicholls would score shortly after that crunching Kaufusi blow – one that followed another devastating hit on Nat Butcher – to level the score at 12-all.

Kaufusi – already an established State of Origin star and premiership-winner from his time at the Melbourne Storm – would replicate his defensive heroics a week later, laying on a similarly ferocious shot on Hudson Young. The Dolphins would emerge victorious against the Canberra Raiders, to truly cement their early reputation as a team that would not take a backwards step.

That, according to Nicholls and Kaufusi, was the DNA Bennett had called on them to embed.

“He wanted winners around. I was lucky the Bromwich brothers [Jesse and Kenny] came here to create a winning culture, and guys who knew the standard they had to be to win games,” Kaufusi said.

“You can talk as much as you want, but if you don’t show it on the training paddock or out on the field, I don’t think people will follow.”

Nicholls added: “[Bennett] talked about not wanting to let the fans down or give up in games – if we were going to lose, we were going to be fighting to the last minute. That sort of attitude the group’s continued.”

It is in somewhat ironic circumstances that the Dolphins’ maiden preliminary final will take place against the Roosters on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.

But things are very different than they were four years ago. Once condemned as a squad that was unable to impact the premiership race, they now face a fight to keep the framework of their group together.

While the Dolphins have re-signed Selwyn Cobbo (2031), Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, Tevita Naufahu (2029) and Brad Schneider (2028), marquee men Herbie Farnworth, Jack Bostock and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow are among the 12 players who will become free agents from November 1.

Off contract (at the end of 2027)

However, with only England halfback George Williams signed on as a 2027 recruit, and the salary cap to rise from 2028 following the unveiling of a $5.3 billion broadcast deal, Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader remained confident the bulk of the squad would remain.

And Nicholls believed the talent production coming out of the academy pathways – boom edge forward Brian Pouniu and winger Naufahu the first graduates to impress – would ensure ongoing success, even if some key figures were prised from the club’s clutches.

So much so, he admitted he “selfishly” had not wanted to retire at the end of last season.

“I could feel as a player I was getting towards the end of my career, but I felt like there was a good crop of young guys coming through and there was a nucleus of a good team,” Nicholls said.

“The spine has been there since day one. There are game breakers all along the backline, a forward pack who are willing to rip in, and guys in there who would do anything to fight over a 50-cent coin. Selfishly, I was keen to play on because I had the feeling the group was going somewhere.

“There were all these young guys coming through they needed to keep. I know I made the right decision now, but at the time I was keen to play on because I knew something special was brewing.

“You’ve got to back your junior development at some stage, and it may mean you lose two or three of those star players. The club is doing all the right things to make sure that if we do lose a couple of those star players, there are certainly plenty who are ready to fill the spots.”

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