Time is winding down on the Dolphins as they race to complete their inaugural 30-man squad for the 2023 season and beyond.
The club have recently secured Anthony Milford and are said to be making a huge offer to Cam Munster for 2024, but coach Wayne Bennett says it hasn’t been plain sailing.
Bennett spoke to Triple M this week to discuss the problems the club has had with recruitment and to take aim at the current generation of players for not “growing up”.
The calls came after Bennett admitted two players had recently committed to the Dolphins before back-flipping.
“There were certainly two guys who had committed, done the deal… then they had a change of heart,” Bennett said.
“I don’t know if it was (their manager). Everyone is a part of it. It’s like a lot of things, we blame everyone else – the refs, the manager – but that’s the problem we’ve got with a lot of players at the moment, they’re not growing up.
“Everybody is protecting them.
“I don’t get that. (Players) should say ‘it’s my decision, I’ve got to own it, and if I’m not strong enough to stand up to my manager, I pay a huge price for that.'”
But Bennett could also see the upside to his recent disappointment, with the coach admitting he “dodged a bullet” by avoiding players with a fickle mentality.
“You want them to be men and say: ‘Listen mate, I’m not coming’, for them to own it.
“But I realised it’s a blessing in disguise. You realise you just dodged a bullet but at the time you’re emotionally involved with the player. Then you find out that’s not what you’re dealing with.”
The master coach also confirmed reports from earlier in the week that the Dolphins were making a strategic move to lure Storm and Maroons star Cameron Munster back to Queensland for 2024, having missed out on his signature for next year.
“He’s one of a group of players we’re looking at,” Bennett said.
“We’ve made it known where we stand. We’ve got to play the waiting game and see what happens. Hopefully he’ll come.”
The Dolphins still have 11 vacant spots on their roster for next year and a lot of uncertainty still hangs over the club, but Bennett left fans with one guarantee for the 2023 season.
“The only thing we’ll guarantee is we’ll do our best and that’s everything to me. We’ll go in and be the club everyone wants us to be.
“It might take a little longer than we want but that’s OK. You’ve got to be patient, nothing is built overnight.”
