{"id":362708,"date":"2024-01-25T18:13:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T19:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=362708"},"modified":"2024-01-25T21:03:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T21:03:31","slug":"stars-career-on-the-line-as-bennett-verdict-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=362708","title":{"rendered":"Star's career on the line as Bennett verdict looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hot favourites for the wooden spoon before a ball was kicked in their maiden season in 2023, the Dolphins<\/a> exceeded all expectations by finishing 13th.<\/p>\n

And the team was travelling superbly mid-season before injuries and lack of depth brought them undone and they crashed and burned, losing 10 of their last 12 games.<\/p>\n

Wayne Bennett<\/a> and recruitment guru Peter O'Sullivan have worked hard to steady the ship, getting rid of some dead wood and signing three top-flight players in Herbie Farnworth<\/a> (Broncos), Thomas Flegler<\/a> (Broncos) and Jake Averillo (Bulldogs).<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Beaten Gauff denies opponent's act cost her\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Freakish' BBL star hailed for 'best catch I've ever seen'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ricciardo stuck in awkward 'worst ever' name change<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dolphins have the squad to make the finals this year – if they learn the lessons from their poor end to last season and have a good run with injury.<\/p>\n

\"Dolphins<\/p>\n

But the Dolphins' greatest weapon last season – right from the shock first round defeat of the Roosters<\/a> – was their ability to ambush rivals.<\/p>\n

They went into most games as underdogs and Bennett was able to get his troops to hustle and bustle their way to victory.<\/p>\n

That advantage is now gone – rivals enter games this year knowing they're are in for a tight tussle against Redcliffe and the underestimating factor is no more.<\/p>\n

BENNETT'S BIG CALL\ufeff<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bennett faces a dilemma over what to do with enigmatic five-eighth Anthony Milford<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

Milford has been around a long time and turns 30 mid-season, but his career has been on the downward spiral in recent years.<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Despite his class and experience, he played just 11 games in the Dolphins' inaugural season, winning only three of those.<\/p>\n

The former Raider, Bronco and Knight comes off contract at the end of the year and it will take a massive turnaround for him to earn a new deal at the club.<\/p>\n

STAR WINGER A MARKED MAN<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Can Jamayne Isaako continue his remarkable resurgence in 2024?<\/p>\n

The speedy outside back had a remarkable season last year after several years in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

Bennett gambled on the 27-year-old Kiwi<\/a> and Isaako repaid him in spades.<\/p>\n

In a team that failed to make the finals, Isaako finished both top pointscorer AND top tryscorer – a remarkable achievement.<\/p>\n

Isaako scored some spectacular tries and quickly became a fan favourite – but his form last season will make him a marked man in the campaign ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hot favourites for the wooden spoon before a ball was kicked in their maiden season in 2023, the Dolphins exceeded all expectations by finishing 13th. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":362710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=362708"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362712,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362708\/revisions\/362712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/362710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=362708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=362708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=362708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}