Wayne Bennett slams bookmakers after Dolphins were installed as NRL wooden-spoon favourites

Wayne Bennett has lashed out at suggestions the Dolphins will collapse following his departure, after they were slapped with one of the NRL’s most unwanted tags.

The Dolphins have copped a savage premiership slapdown with bookmakers installing Wayne Bennett’s former club as favourites to win this year’s NRL wooden spoon.

Punters believe supercoach Bennett’s departure to South Sydney will trigger a Dolphins collapse with Redcliffe’s $100 million operation backed to crash to last in the 2025 NRL premiership race.

Leading agency TAB has listed the Dolphins as $5 favourites to suffer the most losses this season amid fears rookie NRL mentor Kristian Woolf will struggle to emulate the success of Redcliffe’s foundation coach Bennett.

The revelation has gone down like a lead balloon with Bennett, who slammed bookmakers and punters, claiming they must be on drugs to rate Woolf’s Dolphins as wooden-spoon also rans.

The TAB have listed the Dolphins as shock favourites to win the NRL’s wooden spoon in 2025. Picture: Getty Images

“That’s simply ridiculous,” Bennett said when informed by News Corp of the Dolphins’ wooden-spoon odds.

“Whoever has put that betting market together must be on something.

“Kristian is a fine coach and they have a very strong roster.

“The Dolphins won’t finish last ... it’s a stupid statement.”

Interestingly, lowly Wests Tigers are rated fifth favourites to win a fourth consecutive wooden spoon, underlining the effect of Panthers champion Jarome Luai’s off-season move to Concord.

TAB’s assessment is even more surprising given the Dolphins’ largely impressive entry to the NRL and their status as the feel-good story of the Telstra Premiership.

In their debut season in 2023, the Dolphins won nine games – more than twice as many as last-placed Wests Tigers (four) – and finished 13th, highlighted by an epic upset of the Roosters in their first ever game.

Last season, the Dolphins finished 10th, missing the finals by just one win and recording 11 victories. They were in the top four after 15 rounds and eighth in round 23, only to narrowly miss the playoffs after losing to Newcastle on the final day of the regular season.

The Dolphins go into the new 2025 campaign with a strong forward pack, headlined by Queensland Origin warhorse Tom Gilbert, plus new recruits Daniel Saifiti and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki.

Wayne Bennett has called the TAB’s decision as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘stupid’. Picture: NRL Photos

Speed machines Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Jamayne Isaako and Herbie Farnworth bring class to the backline, while Tongan Test ace Isaiya Katoa is one of the hottest playmaking prospects in the league.

Despite being consistently competitive, there is a view Bennett’s exit will rip the Dolphins apart as Woolf looks to deliver a historic finals campaign in the club’s third season.

TAB spokesman Rohan Welsh confirmed it’s the first time the Dolphins have been favourites to claim the wooden spoon with punters wary of Bennett’s loss.

“It’s the most unwanted tag in NRL futures betting, but punters are clearly concerned with how the Dolphins will cope without Wayne Bennett at the helm,” Welsh said,

“Kristian Woolf has a CV to match any rookie coach in the NRL in recent times, but he’s no super coach yet.

“While clubs like Newcastle, Souths and Brisbane might want to forget who filled Wayne’s boots when he left them, punters certainly remember how those sides crumbled when he left.

“It’s a real defining season for the Dolphins.

“Once the domain of the Tigers and Dragons, this is the most open the Most Losses market has been in a long time.

“We would take a hit if the Dolphins finished last.”

The Dolphins went within one game of making the finals in 2024. Picture: Getty Images

Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said the NRL’s 17th team is accustomed to being written off and defying the doubters.

“It’s really no different to the past two seasons,” he said.

“We were supposed to not win a game in the first year and last year were supposed to be near the bottom but finished one win from the top eight.

“In reality we are happy with the work we have done improving our roster.

“We are excited about the season we have coming up and aiming to finish higher than we did last year.”

In another surprise, 2022 grand finalists Parramatta and Todd Payten’s Cowboys, who finished fifth last year, have attracted money to win the wooden spoon at $15.

Originally published as Wayne Bennett slams bookmakers after Dolphins were installed as NRL wooden-spoon favourites