Wayne Bennett rejected in heavy scenes in Dolphins documentary
Never-before-seen vision has forced the most painful period of the Dolphins’ existence right back into the spotlight.
The Dolphins’ giant-killing effort to defeat the Sydney Roosters in their first ever NRL match will go down as one of the great stories of the 2023 season.
The 28-18 result at Suncorp Stadium gave hope the Redcliffe-based team could challenge for the finals in their first ever season in the NRL, and left many more awe-struck than ever about the coaching genius of Wayne Bennett.
However the stunning performance also served to erase some incredibly painful memories for the Dolphins - that of the difficult 2022 recruitment drive in they failed to land the marquee signing they desperately craved.
Now, an excerpt from episode two of Dawn of the Dolphins forces that heartbreaking period right back into the spotlight, detailing in behind-the-scenes vision how attempts at signing some of the biggest names in the game continually fell flat despite the direct involvement of master coach Bennett.
The excerpt begins with something of a softening up quote from the club’s head of recruitment Peter O’Sullivan – arguably the best recruiter in rugby league.
“You can recover from a player you don’t sign – it takes you years to recover from a player you shouldn’t have signed,” O’Sullivan says.
“So I’m not worried about the ‘don’t signs’, what I’m worried about is if we sign players we shouldn’t have.
“So (you think) OK we missed him, well let’s go and get somebody younger and cheaper and coach the heck out of them, put good people around them and watch them grow into that player of even better quality.”
The list manager’s words of wisdom set the scene for a series of recruitment failures involving O’Sullivan, Bennett and Dolphins CEO Terry Reader.
Penrith outside back Sunia Turuva is the first to turn his back on the club, with his decision coming soon after he’s guaranteed a spot in the Dolphins’ backline for 2023.
Next up in the recruitment drive is powerful Eels backrower Ryan Matterson, who is represented by his manager Chris Orr at Dolphins HQ.
“Ryan definitely wanted to visit the whole Dolphins setup,” Orr says, seemingly in an attempt to explain why Matterson hadn’t appeared for a face-to-face meeting.
“The issues coming in as a new franchise is the unknown, so you’re asking someone who might be coming from a competitive top-four team to sign on the dotted line not knowing who his teammates are.
“Right now he’s in a top-four team and he looks left and right and he knows exactly who he’s going out on the field to do battle with.
“He then has to come to the realisation, do I want to leave my family, my friends, the environment I’m happy in.”
At the meeting table with O’Sullivan and Bennett, Orr asks if the club would be willing to extend their offer out to four years in a further effort to lure the NSW Origin star north.
The proposal is immediately accepted by O’Sullivan before Bennett makes the Dolphins’ position clear.
“If he’s going to take the risk with us, we’ll take some risk with him,” Bennett tells Orr.
“I don’t think we’ve offered anyone a four-year contract, so that’s a huge leap of faith by us. It gives you security, mate.”
Bennett’s passion then spills over, seemingly a sign of the strain the recruitment struggle was having on him.
“I’m not going to bring you here to f**k you up, honest to god, if I didn’t think we’d be good for ya and you’d be good for us, we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation,” Bennet says.
News soon emerges that Matterson has opted to stay at Parramatta on a four-year deal, but with star backrowers Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi having already signed with the Dolphins for season 2023 – it’s a signing the Dolphins can live without.
The same can’t be said for the next big recruitment miss for the expansion club – that of Knights superstar Kalyn Ponga.
The scene begins with Reader, O’Sullivan and Bennett meeting to discuss their strategy for the meeting with Ponga and his management.
“Before we go on with Ponga … what’s our plan of attack because we’re dealing with a couple of sharpies here,” Bennett says.
He then addresses Reader who’s seemingly been tasked with selling the off-field attraction of a move to Redcliffe to Ponga.
“You want this kid (Ponga) to be the face of this club, is that what you’re going to tell him?” Bennett asks.
Reader then fumbles through a reply, seemingly caught off by the questioning.
“Yeah I think he’s our … are you happy for me to go down his brand part or what …” Reader replies.
“Don’t you promise him one thing that you can’t deliver on,” Bennett interjects.
“They’ll want to know what the market is (off field), so you handle that but handle it so there’s no doubt in his mind that you can deliver on that, and there’s no doubt in his mind that he’s coming here to play rugby league.”
The demand is fascinating given reports emerged later in 2022 that the master coach believed the Knights captain wasn’t willing to get out of his comfort zone and do everything in his power to become the best player he could possibly be.
Bennett also shoots down a suggestion from O’Sullivan that Ponga could come to the Dolphins to play five-eighth.
“Well, I’m not confident about Ponga playing five-eighth … I don’t think he’d want to,” Bennett says.
The scene then moves on to a conversation midway through a Zoom meeting with Ponga, with Bennett giving the hard word to the in-demand Queensland Maroons star.
“If that’s the choice you want to make (to come to Dolphins) and you want to give it a shot, then make sure you have a proper pre-season,” Bennett exclaims.
“People talk about winning premierships like it’s having a drink of coffee – you gotta look at your club and say ‘how many things are we doing right here’ – and you look around and if you’re honest with yourself you’re like ‘shit’.
“It’s an absolute commitment (to get to that level).
“I know what it feels like, looks like and I’ve done it and that’s the problem with the guys that talk about it, they’ve never done it.
“So I know all the things that have got to go to do it. Righto. And that’s what I’m going to build here. I’m not building a s**t club.
“So I got the right people here that have got winning attitudes and bring all the things that we need.
“But I want you here and we’re both going to be winners.”
The meeting then concludes before an excited Bennett declares: “He got me a bit passionate there the bastard… he was good.”
The excitement quickly wears off however as news of the 24-year-old’s decision to remain in Newcastle on a five-year deal – reportedly worth $1m per season – flashes across the screen.
It’s a devastating blow for Bennett, but sadly an even more painful one is still to come as six months later the club’s top priority signing Cameron Munster opts to stay with the Storm on a four-year $4m deal – rejecting an extra $1.6m from the Dolphins.
While not every negotiation is captured in episode two of Dawn of the Dolphins, the hit documentary does reveal a list of recruitment targets written down by Bennett and O’Sullivan early in 2022.
Making for painful reading in retrospect, the list includes Harry Grant, Ben Hunt, Jeremiah Nanai, Suliasi Vunivalu, Dylan Brown and Junior Paulo.
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While none of those players ended up joining the Dolphins – Bennett and O’Sullivan have managed to put together a competitive roster and have plenty of cash to splash for season 2024.
The recent signings of Herbie Farnworth and Tom Flegler from the Broncos shows Bennett remains a magnet for rugby league talent, despite the big misses captured in Dawn of the Dolphins.
The Stan Original Documentary Series Dawn of the Dolphins is now streaming, only on Stan. Episode 2 premieres next Monday, March 13
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