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The Dolphins head into their historic first NRL match against the Roosters in a fortnight with plenty of work to do to avoid embarrassment in Round 1 after they were trounced 40-16 by the Titans at Redcliffe on Sunday night.
In the new team’s final hit-out before the regular season, they were woeful in defence and lacked discipline with veteran forward Felise Kaufusi marched to the sin bin in the second half after repeated infringements.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett desperately tried to rev up his squad at half-time at Kayo Stadium following a horrible first 40 minutes.
They were down 24-0 inside 25 minutes after conceding five tries down the flanks with Gold Coast rookie Alofiana Khan-Pereira bagging a hat-trick and his fellow winger Jojo Fifita crossing twice.
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Young winger Jack Bostock cut the deficit to 24-6 at the break but ex-Bulldogs centre Aaron Schoupp continued the Titans cakewalk with a try of his own soon after the restart.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Gold Coast ended up running in eight tries with Khan-Pereira finishing with four as the Dolphins chalked up a couple of consolation tries to make the final scoreline slightly better.
Five-eighth Anthony Milford’s defence was a problem area all night and the former Bronco did little in attack.
The Dolphins have been written off in most quarters ahead of their inaugural season and this performance will only amplify the voices of the nay-sayers.
With the mantra of “Put your ‘phins up” booming relentlessly around the stadium to 7206 fans before kick-off but it was the Titans who were up for the match.
Dolphins hooker Jeremy Marshall-King put a bellringer of a tackle on Titans half Tanah Boyd to dislodge the ball for Bostock’s try. There was a lesson there for the Dolphins, one they barely heeded in the second half as the Titans made hay.
The Dolphins kicked off their pre-season campaign with an encouraging 24-24 draw with the Cowboys although Todd Payten rested the vast majority of his first-choice 17.
The Titans were playing up-tempo footy from the start and the Dolphins lacked cohesion.
Gold Coast will enter the season with great hope. The signing of 2011 premiership winner Kieran Foran was always going to give them more direction, but his impact was astounding.
The Kiwi international has thrown thousands of over-the-top cut-out passes but his first to Khan-Pereira was wonderfully precise.
Foran combined with centre Phil Sami and second-rower Beau Fermor for the flying winger’s second and third tries.
They travel to Leichhardt Oval in Round 1 to take on the rejuvenated Wests Tigers in a clash that will be a tipster’s nightmare given both teams are coming off strong trial form but below-par seasons in 2022.
Dolphins captain Jesse Bromwich said the side “played like a team that had our first game together”.
“Of course we need to be better,” he said.
“We are not really happy with the way we performed. Our edge defence was pretty leaky at times … and we’ll work hard to make that better.”
The form of Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, and the nous of teenaged half Isaiya Katoa, when he came on, were bright spots in an otherwise forgettable display.
Bromwich said Tabuai-Fidow was a “special talent” and would only grow better at fullback.
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