Master coach Wayne Bennett has called for patience as his new club the Dolphins struggle to attract players for the 2023 season.
While the Redcliffe-based club have Bennett at the helm, they’ve failed to make a big dint in the player market as expected, only making one major signing thus far with Felise Kaufusi committing on a three-year deal.
Having missed out on Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Brandon Smith and Pat Carrigan among others, concerns have arisen about the Dolphins’ ability to build a strong 30-man roster.
Despite the outside noise, Bennett believes everything will fall into place at the right time.
“There’s a word called patience and we can’t just talk it, we have to live it at the moment,” Bennett told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We’ll just be patient. We’re not building a team for one season, we’re building a team for a lifetime. It’s important that all the decisions are made for the right reasons. That’s being patient, that’s being vision making.
“There’s a lot of water to flow under the bridge yet.
“Coaches will get disgruntled with players throughout the season, that type of stuff. There’s another off-season in front of us. I’m not fazed.
“We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire. It will come together every day as we get closer to another signature, another player. Nobody is disappointed.”
While some are predicting that the Dolphins won’t be competitive in 2023, Bennett says he’s confident he’ll have a “quality football team” to work with.
“There will be fallout through the season and there’s an off-season still in front of us. I’m confident we’ll have a quality football team,” he said.
“I’m just pleased that Peter (V’landys) knew what he was doing. He didn’t bring two teams in because it would have made it much more difficult. This is the way to do it, with one.
“I was always confident about [there being enough quality players].
“The 17th team, regardless of who it was or where it came from, I was always comfortable that would happen.
“The other challenge for us is we don’t have players signed. The players know who will be coaching them, but they don’t know who they are going to be playing with.”
The Dolphins will play their first game in Round 1 of the 2023 season.