Looking to play ‘Dolphins DNA footy’
Jeremy Marshall-King says Head Coach Kristian Woolf’s stern message to players today was pretty clear as they prepare to take on the Titans this weekend at Suncorp Stadium and cling to hope for a maiden finals berth.
The Dolphins have two rounds to play of the regular season, which they need to win to have any hope of making the top eight. They will also need other results to go their way.
They are currently ninth on the competition ladder.
After their 58-30 loss to Manly last round (25), Woolf said it was a disappointing performance after a good start.
“As soon as things turned against us, we didn’t have a lot of resilience about our defence in particular and it’s something we’ve got to fix up quickly,” he said.
And fatigue and injuries to key players were not excuses for losing the past three games in row.
“I think we’re better than what we are playing at the moment or what we’re showing at the moment. I certainly haven’t lost any confidence in the people that we’re putting out there,” he said.
“I know there’s players that we’d love to have out there, but I think that the guys we’re putting out there can show a better account than we are right at the minute.
“… the number of points that we’ve leaked, certainly the two out of the last three weeks or even the last three week. For whatever reason, we’ve lost a little bit of trust or lost a little bit of resilience in what we’re doing there defensively. We’ve got to try to find a way to fix it.
“I think we have an opportunity to achieve something for the club that hasn’t been achieved before, and we haven’t quite been up to that challenge when it counted.”
Jeremy Marshall-King, who will play his 150th NRL game this Sunday against the Titans (4.05pm kick off), said the team had heard Woolf’s message
“The boys are really ready to go for this week. Woofy’s got into us a little bit and we deserved that after our performance on the weekend,” Marshall-King said.
“(He) just (said) that we haven’t been playing the way we know we can play … our DNA as Dolphins footy.
“We’ve just got to get back to being the team we know we can be … just being simple in what we do … getting after teams and being physical. That will be a big challenge for us this week. I’m looking forward to it.”
The last-placed Titans, who have announced coach Des Hasler will be replaced at the end of this season, will be looking for a win to avoid the wooden spoon.
Marshall-King said his teammates would not be distracted by any emotion surrounding their opponents.
“It doesn’t matter who we face, I don’t where they’re coming (on the ladder) but no one wants to finish last. We’ve just got to be on our game and do what we do best,” he said.