NRL 2024: The Dolphins still have hope that Ben Hunt will make a move to Queensland
The Dolphins reached out to the Dragons earlier this year to sound out the club’s intentions with Ben Hunt. Now the door has been left open again at Redcliffe for the Queensland Origin star.
The Dolphins have refused to rule out making a fresh play for Maroons star Ben Hunt as incoming coach Kristian Woolf targets a maiden NRL finals appearance in his debut season.
Wayne Bennett has packed up his desk and the dust is settling at Redcliffe following a mostly successful second season in the NRL for the game’s 17th club.
The Dolphins went within a whisker of playing finals this year, falling to Newcastle in the last round to finish 10th.
An 11-13 record, which included the club’s first Battle of Brisbane derby win against the Broncos, was an improvement on last year’s 9-15 (12th) in their debut NRL campaign and showed the Dolphins are on the rise.
However the club isn’t satisfied and wants to play finals in 2025 in what will be Woolf’s first season in the hot-seat as Bennett’s successor.
“I wouldn’t say it would be a failure (if we don’t make it) but we expect to be in the mix for the finals next year,” Dolphins CEO Terry Reader said.
“That is certainly the goal for the squad and club. We won’t shy away from that.
“This year was about progressing. Would we have liked to have made the finals? Yes, but we have improved from the year before.
“If you told us at the start of the year that we’d be fighting for finals in the last game we would have taken that.
“There’s lots to be proud of for a club in only its second year.”
DRAGON HUNTING
The Dolphins reached out to the Dragons earlier this year to gauge St George Illawarra’s interest in releasing halfback Hunt, who is keen to finish his career in Queensland.
The response was “no” at the time, but Hunt’s future has again been thrust into the spotlight following a late-season fade out and the Dragons’ reluctance to discuss his future beyond 2025.
The Dolphins have halves options Isaiya Katoa, Kodi Nikorima, Sean O’Sullivan and Jake Averillo on their books, but Hunt could add 334 games of NRL experience to the roster.
The Dolphins have the salary cap space to accommodate a $1 million player in Hunt and Reader responded diplomatically when asked if the club was still interested in the Origin ace.
“He’s contracted to another club and we’ve got halves already contracted to us,” he said.
“It’s like anything, if players become available and we think they’ll be of value to us then we’ll talk to them.
“At the moment, Ben Hunt is contracted for next year so there’s nothing really for us to talk about.
“We still have a couple of spots in our roster for 2025. We’ve got to get the right people that will fit and offer something different if they come to our club.
“We are in no rush and don’t sign players for the sake of it. If the right player becomes available then we are in a good position.”
BENNY FACTOR
Bennett declined to comment on his three-year stint in charge of the Dolphins when contacted this week.
He will deliver his final speech at the Dolphins’ awards night on Thursday before he returns to South Sydney following what could be regarded as a successful stint at Redcliffe.
After leading the Rabbitohs to a 2021 NRL grand final loss, Bennett spent 2022 assembling a foundation squad and preparing the Dolphins for their 2023 launch.
The Dolphins believe they got good value after shelling out more than $3 million for the super coach who laid the foundations of the club.
“People said we never signed a marquee player, but Wayne was a marquee signing,” Reader said.
“We will be indebted to Wayne given what he’s done with setting up our club. His mark will be part of our legacy.
“We are thankful to have had Wayne as our first coach. He’s done a wonderful job in helping set our club up for success in the future.
“When you look at how the Dolphins play, people know what they’re going to get. It’s very rare that we’re not in a game until the 80th minute. You know we’ll compete and be there at the end.
“That’s been driven by the people at the club, the players and how we’ve set things up.
“We don’t expect that to change. That’s part of our DNA now.”
LONE WOOLF
Woolf, 49, is hoping to buck the trend of Bennett’s successors that have ultimately failed.
Former Souths coach Jason Demetriou became the latest of Bennett’s disciples to be axed this year following the Rabbitohs’ fall to the bottom four.
The Dolphins believe Woolf will have a different fate given he has proven himself as a three-time Super League winner and the man behind Tonga’s rise to a Test giant.
“People forget that part of the plan with Wayne coming here was that he would leave in 2025 and wasn’t sure if he wanted to coach,” Reader said.
“We can’t regret anything because we wouldn’t be in the position we are now if we didn’t get him. It was about setting up for the future and we appointed Kristian.
“The difference from other times people have taken over from Wayne is Kristian is already a head coach. He’s not an assistant we are hoping knows how to be a head coach.
“He has won three Super League premierships in a row with St Helens and turned Tonga into a powerhouse of the international game.
“He comes in with experience, credibility and a relationship with our boys given he’s been there from day one.
“We are in a good position with ‘Woolfy’. He is very disciplined about what’s expected on the field and he’s been part of building that with Wayne as his assistant from day one.”
PHINS UP
The Dolphins broke through the 35,000 members mark and boasted average Suncorp Stadium crowds of more than 26,000 this year despite a challenging draw.
They have signed emerging prospects Kulikefu Finefeuiaki (Cowboys) and Junior Tupou (Tigers) and are hoping to have Queensland duo Tom Flegler (shoulder) and Tom Gilbert (knee) back in action early next season.
The NRL’s previous expansion club – the Gold Coast Titans in 2007 – missed the finals in its first two seasons before posting back-to-back top four finishes in 2009-10.
But they fell off a cliff in 2011, clinching the wooden spoon, and have only played two finals matches since (2016 and 2021), finishing in the bottom four for the past three seasons.
The Dolphins are targeting sustained success as the NRL prepares to further expand the competition with the likely introduction of the Perth Bears in the coming years.
“We don’t regret anything,” Reader said.
“We were still in finals contention in the last round of the season. It was a progression from our first season.
“I’m really proud of what the club’s done in our first two seasons.”
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