The Dolphins' inaugural pre-season is just hours old but already coach Wayne Bennett has come out swinging for his team, refuting suggestions that the club was in-line for a first-year wooden spoon by claiming the club wouldn't take out the honour under his watch.
Though the Dolphins are currently short-priced favourites to end 2023 in seventeenth place, Bennett is setting the bar much higher.
“I'm not allowed to bet on rugby league, but if I was I wouldn't be betting on the Dolphins winning the wooden spoon," Bennett told AAP.
“I don't believe we will be there. It won't happen.”
Bennett was also quick to talk up the Dolphins' impending rivalry with local rivals the Brisbane Broncos, with the coach claiming the relationship between the two clubs could grow to rival that of the Premier League's Manchester Derby.
“It will be driven by the fans,” Bennett said.
“Two Brisbane clubs together, it will be a bit like Manchester City and Manchester United and so many competitions around the world where you have that sort of derby.
“I want it to be that way, it creates huge interest. When the (South Queensland) Crushers were here we had 40,000 people turn up to games because everyone saw the local rivalry. It will be great for the game.
“If you look at the script of what we did at the Broncos in 1988, it won't be much different to what we do here in 2023.”
The Broncos finished seventh out of 16 teams in their first season.
Though Bennett is keen to mention the similarities between both teams in their initial stages, he's well aware of the areas where the game has changed as well.
“Recruiting has been different (to 1988),” he admitted.
“It's been a lot more difficult because we can't pick up half the Queensland Origin team because the Brisbane comp was pretty strong in that era and they weren't all in Sydney. But there are 16 other clubs in the NRL.
“The bottom line is we'll start the competition with everybody else next year. We have a plan in place about how we want to be perceived, and the young men will buy into that. It will be a process.
“Whether it takes five years or 10 years (to win a title), who knows? If you get the process right, you're a lot closer to success.”
