Dolphins ready for Bennett ‘ambush’ at Suncorp

Injuries continue to test the Dolphins’ depth and resolve as they prepare to face Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs on the weekend.

Check out the photo gallery from training at the end of this story.

Mark Nicholls hopes to keep a frown on his former mentor’s face for 80 minutes.

“He doesn’t smile much in the box, but hopefully we can keep him frowning the whole game,” Nicholls said.

“Wayne likes being the underdog there’s no doubt about that … (but) we’ve got our own issues. Both teams really need the two points.

“We’re just outside the (top) eight and they’re just below us. There’s a bit of a logjam there, so it’s important to get the win especially at this time of the year.

“They’ll be a bit like us … they’ll come up here, Wayne will have them thinking they’re the underdogs … coming to Suncorp to ambush us.

“We’ve got some adversity to overcome. I think it will be a good game.”

The adversity he refers to is confirmation winger Jack Bostock is the fourth key player out for the season, after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during last weekend’s 26-20 loss to the Newcastle Knights.

He joins Captain Tom Gilbert (pectoral muscle), Daniel Saifiti (shoulder) and Max Plath (anterior cruciate ligament) on the sideline.

Tom Flegler remains out with a nerve injury to his shoulder.

Josh Kerr is expected to return for the game against the Rabbitohs and while the Dolphins weren’t expecting Felise Kaufusi to be in the team this week due to suspension, an injury to his medial ligament and subsequent surgery will see him sidelined until round 22.

“You just have to keep moving on. It gives other guys opportunities and that’s why we trained all preseason as a squad of 36 so when the opportunity comes, some of the those young who haven’t played a lot of first grade this year can come out and do a job for us,” Nicholls said.

“We’ve had a lot of long-term injuries, particularly in the forwards, but there’s no point in trying to look at what’s not there. You’ve just got to deal with it. We’ve got confidence in all the guys coming up.”

Chasing a win

Nicholls said the team will be looking for a win ahead of their bye in round 18.

“It can be a four-point game. We spoke about that before the Bulldogs game and put a good performance in, so hopefully we can replicate that this week,” he said.

The Dolphins will be looking to avoid a form slump at the wrong end of the season, as happened during their first two seasons when injuries and suspensions took their toll.

“The last two years we’ve fallen away but, if we want to play finals, we’ll have to knuckle down and get the job done,” Nicholls said.

“I think we can. I think the young guys who have come in and are playing through the middle have certainly stepped up to the job. We’ve still got a great spine, quality in the spine that can create points and a lot of speed in the outside backs. The ingredients are there to play finals.

“Hopefully we’ve learnt from the last two years.”

Nicholls said the preseason was tougher this year and the squad is better equipped to deal with depleted playing stocks this time around.

“Guys who have gotten opportunities have stood up and are playing well. We haven’t missed the guys who got injured because of the way the young guys, or the inexperienced guys, have come in,” he explained.

“If we have to keep calling on more guys who have played Cup for most of the year, they can take confidence in what some of those other players have (already) done and hopefully they can step up and do a job for us as well.”

Nicholls, who is part of the Dolphins leadership group, says it’s a club used to adversity and being underestimated by the experts.

“If you remember, when we came here, we were ‘too old’, we didn’t have a ‘marquee player’, we were ‘going to lose every game’. We came out and started that year and proved a few people wrong,” he said.

“Every footy club goes through adversity … that’s why it’s so hard to win it. You’ve got to overcome a lot of obstacles if you want to win the NRL competition on Grand Final day in October. Hopefully we can finish the year strong.”

The Dolphins play South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night (7.50pm) after the Broncos face the Warriors (3pm) at the same venue.

The stadium will be cleared after the Broncos’ game and reopened to those with tickets for the Dolphins’ game.

To buy tickets, visit the website.

Training photo gallery

By Dominika Lis