Kristian Woolf: ‘If we play to our strengths, we’re hard to beat’

Dolphins NRL Head Coach Kristian Woolf says the team has a plan for the first 2025 Battle for Brisbane tomorrow night at Suncorp Stadium (7pm kick off) and if the Dolphins play to their strengths, they will be hard to beat.

Speaking after training at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium today, Woolf says the squad has prepared well this week, bouncing back from a 30-18 loss against the Tigers at home last Saturday night (round three).

“They’ve rebounded off, obviously, a disappointing loss … particularly when you’re up like we were and just sort of throw that opportunity away,” he says.

“They’ve been really positive through the week. It’s a great week. It’s a game that everyone wants to be a part of. Everyone knows what the occasion is … that’s certainly helped, but I can’t give the players enough credit in terms of how they’ve handled some challenges so far this year.

“I think we’ve just got to back ourselves and be confident in what we’re doing. We’ve done a lot of good things in terms of our preparation and in terms of what we’ve done around the preseason.

“It’s definitely been a rough start. It hasn’t been the start that we wanted but that hasn’t changed anything in terms of what we know is going to work for us.

“I think we’re on the right path. We’re showing little signs of improvement. As I said, after the game last week, we’ve got to learn how to stop beating ourselves.

“We’ve done some really good things in all the contests (this year) and we’ve tended to beat ourselves a little bit by taking the pressure off when we can apply pressure. If we stop doing that and we keep doing the good, then we’re hard to beat.”

Woolf is not concerned about the side’s slow start to the 2025 season, with outside factors disrupting preparation for the first two rounds.

“Obviously you want to win. We’re all here to win and you get disappointed when you don’t but concern? No. Every team’s going to go through rough periods, and we’ve had ours early,” he says.

“A real positive for us is we’re still relatively healthy … a bit of chop and change, but we’re still healthy which means we can build on what we’re doing.”

So, what about the so-called Wayne Bennett curse?

“It’s going to persist while we’re not winning and it’s going to persist while we don’t achieve things as a team … once we’re winning, it will go away. It will take care of itself,” Woolf says.

He has no doubt a big, vocal crowd at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night will lift his side.

“It always does. The players love these occasions, they love the big games. Everyone knows what the occasion is, everyone knows it’s going to be a big crowd, it’s going to be a vocal crowd for both teams,” Woolf says.

“It does help. It helps get the best out of players, it helps get the best out of both teams and that’s what makes it an enjoyable game.”

Molo signs with the Dolphins

State of Origin representative Francis Molo will join the Dolphins for the 2025 NRL season.

The Dolphins have picked up the remaining term of Molo’s contract after the 2021 Queensland front-rower was given a release by the Dragons.

The 30-year-old is expected to arrive at Dolphins training next week, with his deal confirmed until the end of the 2026 season.

Woolf is delighted to reunite with Molo at the Dolphins.

“I really like Frank. I’ve known Frank a long time. I was part of the Broncos when he debuted there as an 18-year-old. He was a great young kid coming through that had a real fire in the belly, had a real aggression about how he played, how he carried the ball, how he tackled,” Woolf says.

“He was very raw around the edges back then but you could just see the power and the impact he could make. I took him up to the Blackhawks after his stint at the Broncos. He was great for us there.

“He’s a great team man, he’s a great family man, he’s a bloke that fit into the group really well and really added to us on the field there and he earnt himself an opportunity back in the NRL at the Cowboys off the back of what he did at the Blackhawks.

“I just think he’s at a really good time in his life in terms of what he can offer us as well. He’s mature now. He’s been incredible in terms of some of the changes he’s made and some of the things he’s been through as a man and the man he’s chosen to be on the back of that.

“It’s something I’m really proud of being able to watch him do that. I know we’re getting him here at a great time in his career, his life. He’s going to really add to us on and off the field.”

What about Daly Cherry-Evans?

Woolf says the club is interested in speaking to Daly Cherry-Evans about making a return to Redcliffe, where he played as a junior, and has room in the salary cap for him

“I’m not going to talk about what I think he might bring to our club or anything like that. Terry (Reader) has made the comment that we’re obviously going to sit back and watch what’s going on at the moment,” Woolf says.

“It certainly caught us by surprise. We just assumed he was going to finish his career at Manly. The fact that’s not going to be the case … we’ll sit back and watch what happens.

“If there’s genuine interest, we’d love to have a conversation. That doesn’t mean he’s going to come here, or anything else, but if there’s genuine interest we’ll certainly have that conversation.”

He concedes there is a romance to the prospect of Cherry-Evans finishing his career where it started but says it’s not the only factor.

“There’s a lot of things that go into those decisions. I don’t know how much that weighs on his decision,” he says.

“We’ve got space in the (salary) cap. We’ve been very smart with how we’ve managed the cap to make sure that we do have opportunities for good players when they become available. We’ve just got to make sure we get those decisions right.”

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