The Perth Bears will enter the NRL as its 18th team next season, but they have already been dealt a difficult hand before a ball has even been kicked.
With the club having lost both its original CEO and General Manager of Football earlier this year, questions have been raised about the management of the new franchise, while its roster remains without a marquee signing to lead the way.
The Bears are currently favourites to claim the wooden spoon, with critics already suggesting they could struggle to register a single win during the opening months of their inaugural campaign.
However, the Dolphins have been down this road before, and prop Tom Gilbert believes there is a valuable lesson he can pass on to Meninga's side.
Having experienced the highs and lows of establishing a new club when the Dolphins entered the competition in 2023, Gilbert believes Perth should embrace the criticism rather than allow it to become a distraction.
“One thing I always remember about joining the Dolphins was how many people wrote us off and told us we would get the wooden spoon, and we wouldn't be successful for a few years,” Gilbert told Zero Tackle.
“So my advice for the Perth Bears, is at any chance, enjoy that.
“Enjoy people writing you off, enjoy people having their doubts against you because that's the easiest thing to do. That's the easiest thing for critics to say about you guys and people to say you'll be poor and use that as a way to, I guess, to come together as a group.
“Perth will be a very isolated team and there's a lot of criticism for them. Enjoy it. Enjoy what that brings because I think people are really quick to forget some of the stuff that was said about the Dolphins and the roster that was put together for our first year and now we are a top four side.
“We all want to see them do well, but that's one thing I'd be doing as a group there is, you know, enjoying the criticism and come together as a group. Enjoy the first preseason, find ways to make things hard and where you can come together, and you'll be surprised what you'll be able to achieve when you put your best foot forward.”
Gilbert's advice comes with plenty of experience behind it, with the Dolphins having defied expectations from the moment they entered the NRL in 2023.
Despite being written off before their first campaign, the Redcliffe-based outfit won its opening three games to announce itself as a genuine competitor before finishing the season in 13th place on the ladder.
While they were unable to reach the finals in their inaugural year, the Dolphins showed they could compete against established clubs and laid the foundations for their continued development.
The club has since continued to improve, coming within one win of a Grand Final appearance in just its fourth season, providing a blueprint for the Bears as they attempt to establish themselves in the competition.
With Perth preparing to begin its pre-season in late November, the coming months will be crucial in bringing the playing group together and laying the foundations for its first NRL campaign.
The Bears will face a unique challenge, with their geographic isolation adding another layer to the task of building a strong club culture, breaking into AFL territory and attracting players to Western Australia.
However, Gilbert believes that adversity can become an advantage if the group learns to use outside criticism as motivation rather than allowing it to undermine its confidence.
For Meninga and his coaching staff, the priority will be creating an environment where players can build strong relationships, embrace the challenge and develop a shared belief in what they can achieve.
The Dolphins have already shown that early predictions do not have to dictate a club's future, and Gilbert's message is clear: the Bears should use the doubts surrounding them as ammunition.
With a long road ahead before they can match the competition's established sides, Perth will need to turn the noise into motivation as they look to carve out their own space in the NRL.
