NRL 2023: Wayne Bennett’s secret weapon to turn Dolphins into premiership believers
While many experts have written the Dolphins off as wooden spoon favourites, Wayne Bennett has enlisted a long-time confidante to help turn the team into premiership believers.
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Dropped Dolphins star Anthony Milford has turned mentor for boom rookie Isaiya Katoa as a famous Brisbane sports shrink inspires the NRL’s newcomers.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has enlisted long-time confidante Dr Phil Jauncey to transform the NRL’s wooden spoon favourites into premiership believers.
Jauncey and Bennett have held a long association, with the seven-time title-winning coach regularly calling on the performance coach to work with his teams.
Sporting sunglasses and a Dolphins polo shirt, Jauncey sat behind Bennett in the coaches’ box at Suncorp Stadium last Sunday as the Dolphins recorded a stunning 28-18 win against the Roosters in their historic first NRL match.
The Dolphins went into the match as rank underdogs against premiership heavyweights the Roosters and had been installed as spoon favourites by the bookmakers for their foundation season.
But they emerged victorious on a red letter day for Queensland rugby league and are hoping to back it up with a win against Canberra at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium on Saturday.
Rookie five-eighth Isaiya Katoa had an eventful NRL debut against the Roosters, overcoming some early errors to finish the game strongly and the 19-year-old said Jauncey played a key role in his rise to the NRL.
“It’s (overcoming errors) something I’ve had to learn over the pre-season,” Katoa said.
“Wayne, Kristian Woolf (assistant coach) and Phil have been massive on how to react after you make a mistake and what your response is.
“They’re big on having a positive response and not going into your shell because that’s when you get targeted.
“Phil has been unreal. He helps us understand who we are as a person away from footy.
“He has been massive with dealing with the pressures of footy before games, during games and after games. He’s been awesome.”
Bennett dropped a selection bombshell last week, axing 206-game NRL veteran Milford in favour of the untested Katoa.
Milford’s pre-season form was poor and Bennett’s decision was justified as the Dolphins recorded a memorable victory.
While the Dolphins play at sold-out Kayo Stadium, Milford will be running out for the CQ Capras in Rockhampton in the first round of the Hostplus Cup.
Katoa said he felt no pressure to perform following Milford’s axing and the former Broncos pivot had helped prepare the rookie for the biggest game of his career.
“Milf was a massive part of my development over the pre-season,” Katoa said.
“I remember in the lead-up to the game, I asked him a couple of things about shape, how to ID things and run, and he was more than happy to help me out. That epitomises the kind of guy Anthony is.
“He’s got a bit of work Wayne wants him to do and he’s going to work hard. That’s only going to benefit the team.
“We’re competing against each other and helping each other to get better. That’s how you build good culture around the club.”
Katoa is hoping to build on his debut and faces a tough second test when he comes up against Canberra’s Kangaroos star Jack Wighton.
Bennett will continue to show faith in the Penrith junior and he wants to make the Dolphins’ No. 6 jersey his.
“I need to focus on my next job,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the Raiders. There were a lot of lessons I took out of (the Roosters game) to improve on.
“They scored off the back of the kick-off mistake I made, but I knew from the pre-season trial games after making errors that I had to focus on my next job.
“It’s not the mistake that matters. It’s how you respond to the mistake.
“That was my focus once I made a mistake. I was a bit filthy, but my next focus was on what I could do to get the team back into the game and make up for the team.”
LOW BLOW: BENNETT HANDS DEBUT TO POACHED PANTHERS PRODIGY
Wayne Bennett has delivered another blow to Penrith after playing a decisive role in the off-season defection of the Dolphins’ latest NRL debutant.
Bennett will unveil former Panthers prodigy Mason Teague – a player rated a potential future NSW Origin star – on Saturday against the Raiders at Kayo Stadium.
Teague, 19, will make his first grade debut in the Dolphins’ first NRL appearance at Redcliffe when he comes off the bench, replacing the hard-hitting Ray Stone (knee).
A tenacious lock forward, Teague captained Penrith’s SG Ball team – which included fellow Dolphins young gun Isaiya Katoa – to premiership glory last year in an incredible comeback grand final win.
Teague’s skill, effort and reputation caught the eye of Dolphins recruitment chief Peter O’Sullivan, who launched a poaching raid on the junior star after landing Katoa.
But Teague was set to stay at the reigning NRL premiers, until seven-time premiership-winning Dolphins coach Bennett entered the frame.
“I only spoke to Wayne once,” Teague said.
“Leading up to that, I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to make the commitment to come here. But after speaking to Wayne I was pretty sure I wanted to come here.
“I picked the Dolphins for a fresh start. I’ve always wanted to live coastal, especially with my girlfriend as well.
“Being coached by Wayne and a few guys that have been around the game for a while like the Bromwich brothers (Jesse and Kenny) … it was good for me to get the experience under my belt and help me in my career.
“I feel like it’s been worth it and I’m loving it. I’ve learnt a lot.”
Much like five-eighth Katoa, who ousted Anthony Milford to make his NRL debut for the Dolphins in last Sunday’s historic stirring win against the Roosters, Teague has skipped a Queensland Cup initiation and will go straight into the top grade.
But O’Sullivan has no doubt the hardworking forward is ready for the NRL following a sensational pre-season.
“From day one when I saw him play he had leg speed and a willingness to compete which is so valuable in our game,” he said.
“He’s got all the attributes. He’s got good skill, competes hard, can play 80 minutes and has no fear in him.
“It was a no-brainer we went after him. He was captain of the team and put his body on the line.
“Isaiya and Mason were the two most influential players in that team. He was exceptional, he grabbed me from the get-go.
“It was going to be an injury to Tommy (Gilbert) or Stoney that got him his first crack in the NRL.
“The way he played in the trials was him. He was on the ball, involved in three or four tries, and just competing.
“Wayne’s been teaching competing and effort and Mason epitomises that. It’s what his game’s built on.
“He won’t be overawed. He is ready to go. He will be a good quality first grader for a number of years.”
The Panthers are under pressure following a sluggish start to the year, losing the World Club Challenge to St Helens before suffering a rare round 1 loss at home to Brisbane.
The back-to-back premiers have lost gun NRL players Api Koroisau, Viliame Kikau and Charlie Staines, but O’Sullivan said it was the junior losses that could hurt Penrith long-term.
“People are talking about Penrith missing Kikau and Api, but they’re also missing all these other players underneath that were coming through,” he said.
“Getting those players in the 18-19 age bracket was important for us because we didn’t have any. It was really important we got the best 18-19-year-olds we could.
“We got Isaiya, Mason and Jack Bostock (Dragons). We thought we had another one (Harrison Hassett, Penrith) but he backflipped on us.
“I was really excited because I knew we needed four good players in that age bracket that would all go on to be NRL players. It was a really important piece of the puzzle.
“The bottom of that top 30 was going to be equally as important as the top. They had to be the right age, with good physical attributes and quality kids as well.”
Teague has impressed everyone at Redcliffe and ripped into pre-season training, earning his NRL debut from Bennett, who is notoriously protective of young players.
“Mase is in this team for a reason,” said starting lock Tom Gilbert.
“There’s a reason he’s playing so early and it’s because he’s ready. He has been training extremely hard.
“He hasn’t played Q-Cup yet, he skipped that transition, but he’s worked really hard and has a great attitude.
“He’s got a really good head on him. He’s a good person off the field and that translates to on the field.
“He just wants to do his best and give himself to the team. That’s someone we’re really looking forward to playing with and seeing what he’s got.”
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