2024 Dolphins preview: League humdrum the biggest hurdle for sophomore Dolphins

Okay, now let’s do it all again. The Dolphins joined the NRL last season and immediately stunned the league with a rip-roaring start to life in the top-flight (helped on a little by Wayne Bennett’s magic).

While the club’s sizzling early run eventually slipped away and they managed a thirteenth-placed finish in the end, all the excitement and pomp around that first strong run and just simply their arrival lifted the club to nine wins and a big green tick next to their names⁠—no spoon and a strong entrance.

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This time, however, the hum-drum of the league awaits. There’s no “first-year” hype for a team that must now settle into regular life in the top-flight and still manage to build on a very solid first year.

Last year’s finish: Thirteenth, nine wins and 15 losses

Last ten NRL campaigns: 13th, joined the competition in 2023

Predicted Round 1 lineup

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
2. Jamayne Isaako
3. Herbie Farnworth
4. Jake Averillo
5. Jack Bostock
6. Isaiya Katoa
7. Sean O’Sullivan
8. Tom Flegler
9. Jeremy Marshall-King
10. Jesse Bromwich
11. Felise Kaufusi
12. Kenny Bromwich
13. Tom Gilbert
14. Kodi Nikorima
15. Connelly Lemuelu
16. Jarrod Wallace
17. Mark Nicholls

Coach: Wayne Bennett

Biggest losses: Herman Ese’ese Biggest gains: Thomas Flegler, Herbie Farnworth

How 2024 is looking for Redcliffe

The Dolphins are certainly well-placed to kick on and push for finals, but the timing just isn’t right, internally and externally. 

There are a lot of youngsters learning from Bennett now that will continue to grow, not least Isaiya Katoa, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, and new signing Herbie Farnworth. That same potential is the reason the Dolphins haven’t got a deep run in them in 2024 though; they are still on the boil.

This season, Bennett will be setting the club up for a future without him. He will be building a strong spine with Katoa and the Hammer, and he will be trying to leave an imprint that will echo well into the 2020s. That, paired with rosters above them simply having more talent (for now), and we can expect another solid outing from the new kids on the block without anything truly special⁠—yet.

Predicted 2024 finish: 14th

First five: Cowboys (H), Dragons (H), BYE, Titans (A), Tigers (H)

TopSport odds: Premiers $34, Make Top 4: $8, Make Final 8: $3.40, Miss The Top 8: $1.31

Pass mark: Avoid slipping into any spoon battles.