‘We’ve shown tonight that we’re up for it’

Published 12:25am 11 April 2025

Photos: NRL Imagery

Dolphins NRL Head Coach Kristian Woolf says his side has shown what they’re capable of in their 30-12 win over the Penrith Panthers at Suncorp Stadium, but they have the potential to be even better in attack.

The win on Thursday night (March 10) was the club’s first over the reigning Premiers, who have now lost five games in a row.

By contrast, the Dolphins are celebrating back-to-back victories after withstanding a bumpy start to the season and plenty of outside noise about their first four performances.

Woolf says the feeling in the dressing sheds after with Panthers win was “better than two weeks ago”.

“The players, they did a great job. It’s a tough period when you lose four games in a row. It’s easy to start questioning things and it’s easy to start pulling apart a little bit. I said all along one thing the group did was stick together really well,” he says.

“They kept turning up on a Monday, they kept smiling, they kept enjoying training, kept working hard and when you do that you’re going to come out at the other end at some stage and that’s what they’ve done. I’m really proud of them.”

The Dolphins defended well and executed attacking plays to put points on the board, heading into the halftime break ahead 18-6 after two tries to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and one to Jake Averillo.

They came out firing in the second half, with a try to Connelly Lemuelu in the first few minutes and a long-range try to Tabuai-Fidow with 25 seconds to go.

“I’m really proud of our effort. We put ourselves under a bit more pressure than we needed to at different times but our defence tonight was outstanding. We had a real grit about us, a real work ethic about us. We weren’t going to give them anything cheaply, so it’s great to see,” Woolf says.

Tabuai-Fidow had his best game of the 2025 season so far, with three tries and two try-saving tackles.

“He was very good tonight. Those tries and particularly that last one, they’re tries that only Hammer can score, aren’t they? It’s great to see him doing that and playing with that sort of confidence … two try-saving tackles where he used his speed to get there. He obviously had the effort and the desire … they were outstanding plays,” Woolf says.

“Two weeks ago, you guys and everyone else were all questioning him. It’s great to see him turn it around like that … playing with a smile on his face and playing with a real confidence. I was really proud of him.”

Woolf is pleased with his team’s performance tonight but knows they are capable of more than we’ve seen so far.

“I think we showed what we’re capable defensively tonight, that’s for sure, in terms of our toughness as a group, our desire to turn up for each other. I think we’ve got a lot of improvement still in our attack,” he explains.

“I don’t mean that disrespectfully to what we did tonight. I mean in terms of our potential. We’ve got a fair way to go.”

He believes if they “turn up with that sort of mindset every week” and “that commitment to what we’re doing” they will continue to improve.

The Dolphins will need to lift again next Friday night (April 18) when they face the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium.

“Penrith were one of three teams we’ve never beaten (until now), Melbourne are another team we’ve never beaten. That’s going to be a great challenge for us,” he says.

“They’re, I think, the best team in the comp right at the minute. It’s going to be a real challenge but we’ve shown tonight that we’re up for it.”