Dolphins to rise for Magic Round occasion

A big Magic Round crowd at Suncorp Stadium and with a medal honouring league great Arthur Beetson medal up for grabs, the Dolphins will have plenty to play for when they take on the Roosters on Friday night.

Star winger Jack Bostock says they are primed for a massive game and ready to put last weekend’s disappointing 40-28 loss to the Raiders behind them.

See photos from training today at the end of this story

The Dolphins had won three games in a row before the round 8 clash, and were in front 28-10 before the halftime break before losing their way in the second half.

“There’s obviously plenty that we learnt. We spoke about it this morning … what we need to do to improve that this week against the Roosters,” Bostock said after training today.

“If we come out in the second half like we did on the weekend, it’s just not going to hold up in the NRL as we showed last week. We had a great first half and came out in the second half and … we weren’t there from the get-go.

“This week, we need to come out as we did in the first half and just how we have been in the last three weeks.”

The 2024 NRL Dally M Rookie of the Year said the focus in the lead-up to Magic Round had been similar to previous weeks, despite last round’s loss.

“We had our game plan, going out against the Raiders … we stuck to it in the first half and then we just didn’t stick to it in the second. It was the same game plan we had for all the games before,” Bostock explained.

“That’s how we’ve planned the whole preseason and that’s how we play each week, so we’ll just go out again against the Roosters and hopefully we can put an 80-minute performance together instead of a 40-minute one this time.”

The Roosters are just below the Dolphins on the ladder on 13^th, also with three wins and five losses.

The game, after which the best player receives the Artie Legacy Medal, has become a highlight on the NRL calendar since the two sides met in the Dolphins’ first game in the competition in 2023.

Playing it in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium as the prime-time Friday night clash during Magic Round this week will add to the sense of occasion.

“We’ve got a few good players who always rise to the occasion. Hammer always stars in Magic Round and hopefully he does it again this weekend and helps us get another win,” Bostock says.

“There’s a few boys who love the crowd, Herbie and Hammer. Obviously, there will be a big crowd at Magic Round, so you can expect them to have a good one.”

As for Bostock, he plans to “help the boys out in the yardage area” and also finish any opportunities that are created on the outside.

“(I want to) keep playing as we all have been. Obviously, we have been great. We had one bad half last week and we need to forget about that and keep moving on with what we did the last three weeks beforehand,” he says.