Dolphins 2025 preview: The Bennett curse looms

The rugby league fandom is full of superstitious people and fearful “curses” but none rank as highly as the one that comes to a club once supercoach Wayne Bennett leaves.

Yes, we’re being serious — just look at the Dragons, Knights, and Rabbitohs (pending there) since Bennett left them in the 2010s and 2020s. Even the Brisbane Broncos have yet to win a premiership again since the now-75-year-old helmsman walked out the door.

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And now the Redcliffe Dolphins are staring down the barrel of that same “Bennett curse.”

Now, while I do think the Queensland club won’t make finals in 2025, that actually has nothing to do with any curses or anything similar; rather, Redcliffe just doesn’t have the roster to make the top eight in its third year in the NRL, really. Recruitment-wise not a whole lot has happened, with Daniel Saifiti from the Knights the biggest name coming into Redcliffe, but outside that most things are the same.

I also do think Kristian Woolf will do better than other coaches following Bennett’s wake have before. This time around, the Dolphins set everything up so that there’d be a clear succession plan for after the supercoach started the expansion club’s life in the NRL (though we have seen Bennett succession plans bomb before, see: Steve Price and Jason Demetriou). I think Redcliffe is a well-run club that has all its ducks in a row and the team’s roster is chock full of young stars and level-headed veterans alike.

The problem is, they’re just not there yet and Woolf is going to need to replace some of those aging veterans with more exciting stars through the middle of the 2020s. A finals berth could happen, definitely, but it’s not overly likely considering who else is in the running through this impending ’25 campaign.

Round 1 side: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jake Averillo 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jack Bostock 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Daniel Saifiti 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Felise Kaufusi 11. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 12. Max Plath 13. Tom Gilbert Bench: 14. Ray Stone 15. Kenneath Bromwich 16. Connelly Lemuelu 17. Mark Nicholls

Coach: Kristian Woolf (first year)

Biggest loss: Wayne Bennett Biggest gain: Daniel Saifiti

First five: Rabbitohs (H), Knights (A), Tigers (H), Broncos (H), Titans (A)

Last year’s finish: 10th

Predicted 2025 finish: 13th

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TopSport odds: Premiers: $61, Top 4: $8.50, Final 8: $3.10, Most Losses: $8