After much anticipation, the NRL’s newest team is here, with the Dolphins ready to take the league by storm.
With this also comes episode 1 of Dawn of the Dolphins, the three-part docu-series detailing the origins of the Dolphin’s NRL tenure.
From coaching conundrums to area issues, this is an in-depth look at what it takes to launch an NRL team.
“Having access to the inner sanctum, of the greatest NRL coach of all time in Wayne Bennett is a distinct privilege, and we look forward to sharing the fascinating story of this proud club,” Stan’s chief content officer Cailah Scobey said.
MORE: DOLPHINS TOP 30 SQUAD | DOLPHINS OFF-CONTRACT LIST | DOLPHINS ROUND 1 TEAM
Below, we’ve compiled the biggest talking points from episode one.
THE DOLPHINS' IDENTITY CRISIS
The town of Redcliffe was positively ecstatic when the news broke that their beloved Redcliffe Dolphins had been awarded a spot in the NRL, with episode one showing how much it meant to the local area.
But those celebrations quickly turned to disappointment when it was announced that the Dolphins would be sans-Redcliffe, in a move that disgruntled many long-time fans of the club.
The episode explained that the Dolphins are not permitted to carry the same name as the Redcliffe Dolphins due to the latter playing in the Queensland Cup, but it was a shaky first move for a club looking to make a mark on the league.
As comedian Mike van Acker put it, “Don’t you call it Redcliffe, it’s the Dolphins, from an unknown location.”
THE FINE LINE BETWEEN GENIUS AND INSANITY
There is no denying that Wayne Bennett is one of, if not the greatest rugby league mind the world has ever seen.
But in this look at his start with the Dolphins, it is clear that Bennett’s success has come with a cost.
Bennett admits that he has given his life to football, often at the expense of his family and personal life, especially considering his introverted nature.
The episode opens with the coach admitting that he finds it hard to open up to people, even saying that he had decided earlier that day that he wasn’t going to do well in the interview.
He also said that he doesn’t read newspapers, turns off the TV if rugby league is mentioned, and is responsible for the livelihood of many other people, saying “I know if I fail I’m going to cost a lot of people their jobs… If we get it wrong at the beginning it’ll take ten years to get it right.”
But despite this, Bennett knew that he had to take the job, even going so far as to refer to himself as “the chosen one.”
FOR ALL FANS, YOUNG AND OLD
They might be the NRL’s newest team, but the Dolphins’ Redcliffe history has provided them with an incredibly eager fanbase, spanning the full age spectrum within the first episode alone.
First, we meet a fan whose elderly mother sleeps with a photo of her and Wayne Bennett on one side of her bed, and a photo of her and Petero Civoniceva on the other side.
Later, we meet some of the club’s younger fans, Angus Kruger and Jesse Fuary-James, both of which charm the club executives through a series of grilling questions about personnel moves at a local Rebel sport.
The two do such a good job that they are given their own profile section in the episode, in which they explain that they spend their time at school refreshing their iPads to see if any Dolphins news has dropped.
WHAT WAS BEHIND THE EXPANSION?
Much of this episode is the ‘how’ of the NRL expanded to 17 teams, but a good portion also addresses the ‘why’, although with somewhat mixed results.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo tells us that the NRL needed to expand or risked shrinking but then says that you don’t want to expand for the sake of expanding.
Journalist Robert Craddock says that the league didn’t need to expand, but it is a good thing that it did.
Moreton Daily editor says that expansion was needed with the Dolphins specifically because Brisbane needed another club, and the Broncos needed a rival.
It’s ultimately unclear what the final reason to expand was, but it’s clear that all involved are glad the league did.
DOLPHINCEPTION
It might be a series about a new NRL team, but that didn’t stop the team behind Dawn of the Dolphin from taking inspiration from one of the world’s top directors, Christopher Nolan.
The score could have been penned by Hans Zimmer himself, and the editing near the start is jam-packed with fast-paced action, including a one-minute span that takes us to Leeds, then Brisbane, then Headingley in the UK, and back to Redcliffe again.
Hopefully, the play of the Dolphins can live up to the play of their editors.
