One-on-one Kristian Woolf: Dolphins’ mid-season momentum

Images: Courtesy of Dolphins NRL/NRL Imagery

Dolphins NRL Head Coach Kristian Woolf says his team now has a blueprint of how to win in different ways and will aim to replicate their thumping victory over ladder leaders, the Bulldogs, when they take on the Dragons at home on June 6.

At the half-way point of the season, Woolf speaks to Moreton Daily about how the team is tracking, the injury toll and the run-up to finals.

It comes as the Dolphins enjoy their first bye of the season, after a 44-8 win over the Bulldogs in torrential rain in Sydney last week.

“I was really happy with that effort. We’ve had a couple of really good performances, but I thought that was right up there as being as good as the others,” Woolf says.

“(It was) in trying conditions and with a lot of little challenges. I thought they showed a lot of character as a group and that certainly shone through in the performance and the result.”

That character and toughness was on full display with Kurt Donoghoe playing on after suffering a broken nose in the first 10 minutes, Ray Stone playing through AC joint pain in his shoulders and Herbie Farnworth joining the team in Sydney after a stint in hospital that week.

The side was without Captain Tom Gilbert who suffered a pectoral muscle injury the previous round (11) against the Warriors and has since had surgery, as well as Daniel Saifiti (shoulder), Max Plath (foot), Jeremy Marshall-King (leg cut/infection) and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (State of Origin).

“There are definitely a lot of bruised bodies there … 12 games (in a row). Kurt, Ray and Herbie in particular … what those three guys did just showed that they’re not going to let the team down. They’ll do whatever it takes to be a part of the team,” Woolf says.

At the beginning of round 13, the Dolphins are 13th on the ladder and have won five games and lost seven.

“I think we’re travelling along OK. Obviously, we had a very slow start … that put us under a little bit of pressure early on. If I look since then, once we did get rolling a little bit after the Titans game … we’ve started to get a little bit of consistency in how we play,” Woolf says.

“We’ve started to figure out what works for us as a team, what we look like as a team. We’ve managed to win five out of the last eight games, which is pretty good over that period of time.

“If you look at those performances … the Bulldogs being the last one. If we can get to that sort of level and that performance every week, or close to that, then we know we’re a very hard footy side to beat.”

Woolf says the Dolphins’ wins over the Storm and Bulldogs show they can be hard to handle in attack and gritty in defence.

“I think to be the side that we would like to be, we need to be able to win in different ways. We’ve shown that we’ve got that capability about us, but our biggest aim … is to be able to do that consistently,” he explains.

The road ahead

The Dolphins will face the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium, Cowboys in Townsville, Knights in Perth and Rabbitohs at Suncorp before their next bye in round 18.

“Right at the moment, we’re giving the players a much-earned break. It’s important they get a couple of days off. It’s been a big 12 weeks, we’ve had plenty of challenges … there’s been some bruised bodies in there,” Woolf says.

Players will return to training this Friday.

“We’ll prepare as we normally do. I think it’s important that we take each game at a time, we try to build that consistency. We’re starting to get a bit of an idea of what works for us, both preparation-wise and how we play,” Woolf explains.

He has been instrumental in building a club culture with hard work, tenacity and humility at its core.

“I think, first and foremost, we’ve made sure that they certainly are a really good group of men. We had some challenges and some tough periods, earlier in the year, but not at any stage did the group start to falter or splinter as a group. I was really happy with how they handled that,” Woolf says.

“They came out the other end well because of how they handled it.

“They certainly showed us through the preseason they’re a group that are willing to work and willing to work for each other and don’t want to let each other down. I think that’s what we’re starting to see as well.”

Woolf says the hard work is now paying off.

“I just think we’re on a bit of track where we’re showing the improvement that we want to show … in terms of how we’re playing … being able to get wins in different ways,” he says.

“We’re not quite there yet. Teams take a bit of time to really come together and understand each other and understand how they can play together as a group. I think we are on the right track.”

So, what does a successful second half of the season look like?

“Obviously we’d like to put ourselves in a position to be playing finals footy. We know that we’re going to have to be better in the second half of the year to what we were in the first half of the year,” he says.

“I also think we’ve got a blueprint there in terms of how we want to play and how we want to do that.

“If we can get ourselves up around that (top) eight, then that’s obviously a very successful finish for us.”

Injury ward

Tom Gilbert: Has had surgery on his pectoral muscle. The average time off the field for that kind of injury is 12 weeks, but it is unclear if he will play again this season.

Trai Fuller: Will return to the field wearing a Capras’ jersey in the Queensland Cup this weekend. He has not played since September last year, when he suffered an ACL injury.

“He’s done a really good job with his recovery, his rehabilitation from such a serious injury. He’s been training with the full squad for just over a month,” Woolf says.

“The decision to play him with the Capras … he’s a Redcliffe player and he’s going to go back to Redcliffe but unfortunately, the way it matches up … Redcliffe have a bye this weekend. We think it’s important for him to get a little bit of a run as soon as he possibly can, so he can be available for first grade (NRL) as soon as he can.”

Woolf expects Fuller will play for the NRL team at some point during the State of Origin period and will “have some influence on the team in the back half of the year”.

“(But) we’ve got to make sure we bring him back safely. I’m not going to take a risk with him and he’s going to be on limited minutes in his first couple of appearances in Queensland Cup and then we’ll see where he’s at and where the team’s at as well.”

Daniel Saifiti: Could return to the field in round 16.

“His shoulder is probably not progressing as we’d hoped. He suffered a dislocation against Canberra,” Woolf explains.

“We want to try to give it as much time as we can conservatively. We’ll see how that is in the next couple of weeks, but I don’t expect that he’s going to be available in the first week or two after the bye.”

Max Plath: May play in round 14.

“Max is coming along pretty well. He’s some chance of playing against St George. We just need to make sure we get the running in and make sure we’re not putting him at any further risk if we do play him,” Woolf says.

“He’s got a little bit to go yet, coming off that surgery but he is some chance for the St George game if not the week after.”

Jeremy Marshall-King: Will return to the field in round 14 after a severe leg cut and infection.

“He’s coming along really well. The cuts that he received were really significant cuts … where they are across the muscle … that being complicated with infection,” Woolf says.

“He’s got the stitches out. It looks really well healed, he’s running and should definitely be available for St George.”

Kurt Donoghoe: Will be fit to play in round 14 after suffering a broken nose in the win over the Bulldogs.

“He showed incredible toughness to put up with that pain and that sort of injury and come back on the field and play the way he did,” Woolf says.

“He’s really come along this year … he’s really shown he’s a first grader but not just a first grader but a guy who’s a big part of our team and very influential in our team – a guy who’s a core part of us going forward and playing every week for us.”

Ray Stone: May play in round 14 after struggling with AC joint pain in his shoulders.

“We’ll give him as much time as we possibly can just to let those shoulders settle. He’s a good chance of playing against St George. Obviously, we’ll need to make sure they settle first,” Woolf says.