NRL judiciary report 2023: Dolphins are the NRL’s most charged, suspended team
They have only just joined the NRL, but the Dolphins have quickly developed a reputation for being the competition’s new bad boys on the field. See the full judiciary report for 2023 so far.
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The Dolphins have emerged as the new bad boys of the NRL as coach Wayne Bennett urged the Maroons to pick judiciary magnet Felise Kaufusi.
Kaufusi will serve the final week of his latest three-game ban when the Dolphins face Manly at 4 Pines Park on Friday night.
The Dolphins haven’t lost back-to-back games since rounds 4 (Broncos) and 5 (Dragons) and are looking to rebound from last week’s 30-8 loss to the Warriors in New Zealand.
But they will have to do it without key trio Kaufusi, Anthony Milford and Jarrod Wallace – who are all serving three-match suspensions for foul play.
In their foundation NRL season, the Dolphins have been the competition’s most-charged team, being hit with 14 offences by the match review committee.
The Cowboys have also been charged 14 times, however they have played 14 games compared to the Dolphins’ 13.
The Dolphins have also copped an NRL-high 16 games worth of suspensions, compared to North Queensland’s 11, in the opening 14 rounds of the competition.
Kaufusi (seven games) has been the worst offender while Jeremy Marshall-King (two games) and Kenny Bromwich (one match) have also copped bans.
Bennett said it had been a challenging start to the season for the NRL’s 17th club, which is sitting eighth with a 7-6 record.
“The season’s had a lot of challenges in it,” he said.
“We’ve had a bit of a run with suspensions and injuries,
“But I’ve got to say, everybody in the team has put their hand up and done their best for us. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
While the Dolphins lose Wallace and Milford for the Manly game, they regain Queensland Origin star Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and crafty hooker Marshall-King (shoulder).
Kaufusi will be available for selection for Origin II at Suncorp Stadium on June 21 and is in the mix to replace Dolphins teammate Tom Gilbert, who is out for the season due to a shoulder injury.
Bennett said Queensland coach Billy Slater should ignore Kaufusi’s stop-start season and recall the 14-game Maroons enforcer, who he compared to Origin legend Gorden Tallis.
“I hope Felise is picked for Queensland, I don’t see any reason why they won’t pick him,” he said.
“Tom only ended up in the back row because Felise got suspended, so you would like to think he will come back and get the job done, which I’m sure he could.
“It’s a great replacement for Queensland. Felise has been there, done that.
“It wasn’t ideal losing Felise. We’ve missed him with suspensions, but he plays on the line, that’s the way he is.
“Felise is in the minority, he’s like the Gorden Tallis’s of the world, they play on the edge, it’s part of their DNA and that’s why we pay to watch guys like them.
“We are going to miss Tom for sure, but we can’t sit there dwelling on it. We have 10 or 11 games to go and losing guys to injuries or suspensions, I won’t make excuses.
“We have to get on with it. We’ll have 17 guys on Friday night against Manly and that’s all that matters.”
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Originally published as NRL judiciary report 2023: Dolphins are the NRL’s most charged, suspended team
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