Dolphins’ win over Storm, one for the history books

Photos: courtesy of Dolphins NRL

The Dolphins NRL side’s 42-22 win over the Melbourne Storm was among the best in their history and the product of how the squad has responded to pressure after a slow start to the season, holding their nerve and sticking to processes they believed would pay off.

It was a remarkable win, considering the Storm were 16-2 in front after 20 minutes, but a try to Josh Kerr in his 100^th NRL game was a turning point.

A try to Jack Bostock just before half-time kept the Dolphins within striking distance, giving fans and Head Coach Kristian Woolf confidence they were in the fight.

“I was just really proud of our blokes … 16-2 down, all the running sort of going against us, that could have been a very different game. You could tell pretty early in the piece we were up for the fight. You could also tell that, when we had our opportunities, we were doing something with it,” Woolf said.

“Once we went into half-time with a decent sort of score, I thought we were a real chance.

“You’re always worried 16-2 down against Melbourne, aren’t you? I thought we had enough fight in us that we were certainly going to get ourselves back in the contest.”

He did not envisage such a big win, off the back of stunning performances by halfback Isaiya Katoa, who made five try assists; Ray Stone, who scored two tries; Kodi Nikorima who was instrumental in attack and scored a try himself; and Kerr who played out of his skin.

“He (Kerr) was really hard to handle. Every carry he made, I think he was hard to handle … sort of got his nose through. He’s been able to do that the last couple of weeks. He’s been outstanding,” Woolf said.

“It’s great for him … 100 games tonight and for him to play the way he did and for us to get the win that we did, it’s outstanding.

“I thought our bench overall was really good tonight. Ray Stone came on and changed the game. He was outstanding. He gets two tries for a reward but the defensive work and the supports that he does and the things that he does … he’s an outstanding player for us. He really showed that tonight.”

When asked how the win, the first over Melbourne, rated in the club’s history, Woolf was unsure.

“I haven’t thought about that. It’s a big win for us. They’re a hard team to beat all the time and we’ve found them hard to beat. To get the win’s great for us. To win the way we did is even better. As a team, we need to believe in ourselves. We’ve got a good footy team.”

The Dolphins weathered criticism after losing their first four games, but Captain Tom Gilbert says it didn’t take three wins in a row to make him believe they could do it.

“I probably felt it months ago. There was a lot of changes … new coaching staff, a couple of great players coming to our club made a difference and we slowly evolved as a team. I just felt a couple of months ago we were going in the right direction,” he said.

“It’s hard when you had the start we did for people to believe in that. The best thing was we had that belief, from maybe January after our footy camp. We just needed to get a win on the board.

“The good thing is we’re backing it up week after week. I reckon it comes from that belief, it comes from the hard work we’ve put in and it’s come from the heavy criticism we took in the early rounds … we did something well with it. We took it on the chin and we kept ourselves grounded and we believed in ourselves.”

Woolf agreed saying he knew the work they had put in during the preseason and in the first few rounds would pay off at some stage.

“It didn’t early but I believe in the players we’ve got here and I believe in the work we’ve done,” he said.

The win over Melbourne has come at a cost with Max Plath suffering a foot injury and Felise Kaufusi with an MCL (knee) injury.

“That’s another thing that makes the win so brave tonight … to lose a player like him (Plath) and the work that he does for other blokes to step in and fill that void and pick up all that work,” Woolf said.