Dolphins left ruing veteran’s ‘stupid’ act amid Rabbitohs onslaught

The Dolphins were left ruing one ‘stupid’ mistake which sparked a blistering three-try run for the Rabbitohs on Thursday night.

Kenny Bromwich delivers the early hit.

The Dolphins were left ruing a ‘stupid’ mistake as the Rabbitohs pulled away to a dominant 36-14 victory over their former mentor Wayne Bennett at Suncorp Stadium.

The Dolphins were impressive in the first half, leading 14-6 at the break but the Rabbitohs scored five unanswered tries to run away with the two points.

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The death knell rang in the 60th minute for the NRL’s newest club when Kenny Bromwich was sent for 10 minutes after rushing up in kick chase and putting a huge hit on Taane Milne before the bomb had reached him.

At the time the scoreline was 20-14, but then the Rabbitohs scored three tries in the 10 minutes after leaving the Dolphins without the ball for nine straight minutes.

Tries to Isaiah Tass, Latrell Mitchell and Alex Johnston blew out the scoreline and left Bromwich embarrassed watching on from the sheds.

The backrower’s former Melbourne Storm teammate Cameron Smith was surprised by the dumb play.

Kenny Bromwich delivers the early hit.

Kenny Bromwich of the Dolphins is sent off for 10. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“No eyes for the football at all,” Smith said on Nine’s coverage.

“And he may have come off second best.

“I’ve played a lot of games with Kenny Bromwich and I’ve never seen him come up with a play like that before.

“He’s got that timing all wrong.”

Meanwhile, Dolphins skipper Jesse Bromwich, was equally as bemused, calling his brother’s play ‘stupid’.

“He’s not normally known to do stupid plays like that, but it was pretty tough on us at that time in the game,” Jesse told Nine.

“I might have a quiet word with him”

Wayne Bennett wasn't in the mood

Bennett’s frosty press conference exchange

Bennett was asked about the impact the sin bin had on the contest with the legendary coach delivering a blunt response.

“Were you surprised by the sin bin, or did you think it was fair?” a reporter asked.

“There’s been a lot of sin bins this season,” Bennett said with his arms folded.

“Too many?” the reporter said.

“I haven’t been counting them, but there’s been plenty of them,” Bennett said.

But it was after being asked about Cody Walker and his output on the contest that was the final straw for Bennett.

Walker recorded three try assists and a four pointer of his own on Thursday night in a playmaking masterclass.

Cody Walker was way too good. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

“He was difficult to contain, and I thought he put his stamp on the game, didn’t he?” a reporter asked.

“Yeah sure … we done?” Bennett said walking out of the press conference.

Controversy also struck early in the second half when Campbell Graham’s 44th minute try left commentators scratching their heads when it appeared the Souths star pushed Dolphins centre Euan Aitken out of the way to get the ball.

While the Bunker didn’t have a problem with it, there were question marks over the try.

Lachlan Ilias put up a pinpoint bomb with Graham snagging the four pointer.

On Channel 9, Johnathan Thurston believed it should have been a penalty to the Dolphins.

“Was that a push in the back from Campbell Graham?” he said.

Darren Lockyer said: “I think this is a penalty. They should be looking at that because he was taken out, Aitken.

“I’m surprised by that, because he had no chance to compete and protect Nikorima. He gets pushed out of the way. I’m surprised by that.”

Originally published as Dolphins left ruing veteran’s ‘stupid’ act amid Rabbitohs onslaught