Opinion
The Dolphins are a heck of a rugby league story right now, that much is obvious.
Despite most pundits feeling assured that the new team would struggle, and they may still at other stages of the season, Wayne Bennett has brought instant success with a squad that was widely thought to be a little light on for depth and class.
Of course, we have all seen Bennett produce similar results and there is a real sense that the mild smirk and glint in his eye that appear after defying the odds, is his most pleasurable satisfaction in life.
Whether it be the club, Origin or international arena, Bennett is the master, yet even he may be a little chuffed at the Dolphins’ start to the season.
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No doubt Bennett knew his troops would compete well for him, yet without any pre-existing combinations, it did seem more likely that much later in the season, or next, would see the Dolphins somewhere near their best.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow celebrates scoring with a phins up Dolphins salute. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Yet here we are, after a fortnight of play and with two decent scalps already on Bennett’s belt – adding to the 554 others he has claimed over 888 first-grade games.
The fundamental question for those of us interested in the tactical side of the game is exactly how he has managed to achieve it?
The Roosters were awful in the opening round. The Dolphins were keen and passionate, as the Chooks fumbled their way through a contest in which they managed a completion rate of just 68 per cent, while also accumulating a total of 54 missed and ineffective tackles.
It all added up to a dominant 56 per cent of the ball for the Dolphins and Trent Robinson searching for an immediate improvement, which came to some degree against the Warriors last Saturday.
Round 2 against the Raiders was a different statistical kettle of fish. The Raiders were dominant across most areas.
Canberra enjoyed 52 per cent possession, the Dolphins struggled with 75 per cent completions and the Green Machine broke tackles on 26 occasions. There were more run metres, post-contact metres, offloads and line breaks for Ricky Stuart’s team, yet the Dolphins somehow walked away with two competitions points.
Tucked away in the ‘stats’ section of the NRL website lies the potential reason for Bennett’s team’s early season results. While Jamayne Isaako leads the point-scoring, Jeremy Marshall-King the dummy-half runs category and Sean O’Sullivan the try assists with three, as a collective, the Dolphins have set a cracking early season pace in supports.
After two rounds, the Dolphins have pushed up around the ball and created second and third phases to attacking waves 122 times.
Penrith are next best with 116, yet compared to the competition average of 92 across the other 16 teams, the new boys are streets ahead in terms of effective support play.
In 2022, South Sydney topped the category come season’s end, averaging around 55 supports per game, with the Dolphins already eclipsing that figure by sitting at 61.
While it’s early in the season and far from a pattern certain to continue, it has been noticeable how readily available and numerous the Dolphins support runners have been. It also poses the possibility that Bennett may have specifically designed a game plan with it in mind.
The 32.6 per cent advantage held by the Dolphins in that category over the norm is unlikely to be fluke, more probably, a tactical emphasis from a coach well aware of a few important factors.
Much was made of Bennett’s lack of a marquee half, hooker and fullback. The common pre-season view appeared to be that the Dolphins would struggle somewhat without them.
While some solid performers were recruited, there were also concerns that real star quality was lacking across the field.
Has the master cleverly addressed those concerns with a game plan completely reliant on the notion of team, numbers, support and pressure and an avoidance of the dependence on one or two star individuals?
He may well have.
Across the opening two weeks, such an approach has laid things on beautifully for O’Sullivan and Marshall-King, and five try-assists have flowed impressively from their hands.
Coaches often talk about pushing up around the ball in support and everyone wants to see a teammate loom up alongside when the line is broken.
However, could it be that Bennett has assessed the deck with which he has to play and decided to parlay the use of support play into the core of his strategy.
Having watched Bennett for so many years, it would be absolutely no surprise if he had.
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