Bennett banishes cult hero from pre-season training

The NRL career of Dolphins cult hero Valynce Te Whare is on life support after he was banished from pre-season training because of his poor fitness.

9News Queensland's Mark Gottlieb reports Te Whare hasn't trained for a fortnight since Dolphins pre-season began, and has been told he'll do no ball work until at least January.

The club has taken the measures after coach Wayne Bennett and Dolphins fitness staff were unimpressed with the condition he returned in for the start of pre-season.

READ MORE: Tigers recruit admits to 'cold feet' after big deal

READ MORE: Juicy swap deal twist to seal immediate Luai exit

READ MORE: 'Chicken wing' issue behind Smith's bizarre PGA flop

Gottlieb reported Te Whare was in a similar condition 12 months ago ahead of the club's inaugural pre-season.

Te Whare's condition has forced the club to issue him an ultimatum – shape up or ship out.

Te Whare made a memorable debut for the Dolphins against the Sharks in Magic Round, scoring a spectacular double off the bench in the side's 36-16 win.

It was the first of 12 appearances for the season. He would score another four tries as a starting centre.

Te Whare only switched to league from the 15-man game for the 2022 Queensland Cup season, where he won centre of the year.

He previously worked as a groundkeeper at Dolphin Oval.

There was already a question mark over Te Whare's future at the club, given the arrival of Herbie Farnworth from the Broncos and Jake Averillo from the Bulldogs.