The Dolphins may have only signed three players to NRL top 30 deals for the 2022 season, but head coach Wayne Bennett has called for calm.
Setting up the NRL's 17th franchise is quickly becoming the toughest challenge of Bennett's career, with the club only signing three NRL players and two development deals after a month and a half of negotiating.
That tally was sitting at two before the club yesterday locked in three new players - including the two development deals.
On top of yesterday's announcement, the Dolphins have managed to sign Melbourne Storm and Queensland State of Origin second-rower Felise Kaufusi, and Parramatta Eels' heavy-hitter Ray Stone.
Despite that, they are still searching for a marquee signing in the spine, and a total of 27 players to fill their squad for 2023.
Concern has begun to show, however, coach Bennett called for calm, re-iterating to NRL.com that the club isn't looking for a quick fix.
“The salary cap is pretty ruthless so if you make a bad decision in your salary cap it costs you a lot of money and really impacts on your whole roster,” Bennett said.
“We are prepared to wait for players if we have to, to get the right player in the club. No one is looking for a quick fix here, no one is looking to win a premiership in year one.
“What we are looking for is to make sure we build a club that is very strong and that has a future through the decades and is always competitive.”
It's not Bennett's first rodeo in setting up a team, and only being able to target players off-contract at the end of 2022 is having an impact in which players the club can chase, however, the bottom line still remains that the club needs a squad of 30 by the time the first ball is kicked in 2023.
Bennett said the club is playing the long game though, not wanting to ruin the club for a decade.
“If we get it wrong at the beginning, I tell you it will take us 10 years to get it right so we cannot afford to get it wrong at the beginning - and we won’t get it wrong at the beginning,” Bennett said.
“If we have to wait for a couple of players for another 12 months then we will do that to make sure we get a stronger squad.
“We want the best players we can get here. We haven’t set targets about getting so many players in so many months. We just want the right people and we just want to make good decisions.”
